


An Unusual Bond

by CelticWonder



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Fem/Harry, Multi, Multi-way Relationship, Soul Bond
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-14
Updated: 2016-09-10
Packaged: 2018-02-17 09:34:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 23
Words: 62,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2304974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CelticWonder/pseuds/CelticWonder
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Soul Bonds are a known fact. But what if there were those with more than one name? What if they were involved with threats from aliens and from magicals hidden in our own who wanted to enslave one of their own due to her heritage? Her kind has been hunted for years, and all Cassia wants is peace from the war and to live her own life. Will she and Hermione find it in New York with their Soul Mates? Or will bigger plans drag them back into the war?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing!  
> This can also be found on fanfiction under my title NorseFan1

It is a commonly known fact that each sentient being in every realm has a soul mate. All, at some point in their lives, have a name written on their wrist. Sometimes, the name is there from birth, and at others it comes later on in life. These are the names of the person’s soul mate. The mark, much like a tattoo, is there from birth if a person’s soul mate is born before them. If it is not there from birth, then it will appear later on, when that person’s soul mate is born.

However, knowing the name of your soul mate does not mean you are going to find them. It only reminds you of the potential. And there are also cases, very rare ones, of those with more than one name on their wrists. This is their story.

 

* * *

 

Thor, Loki and Sif were the first, all three of them having the other twos names on their wrists, one on each. For an age they did not understand how Thor and Loki could have each other’s names, but then their parents confided in them the truth, when they were believed to be old enough. It had unsettled Loki greatly, almost sending him over the edge. Had it not been for Sif and Thor, he would undoubtedly have done something highly regrettable. However, they knew that there was still a long way to go. Each of them felt strangely incomplete still, a feeling that had been described to them as one that came with (and mostly being ignorable) of those who had not yet found their soul mate. Yet their wrists had no other names. They knew then that there were, or would be, others who would eventually join them, and they resolved to keep an eye on what was happening.

James Buchanan Barnes was the next name to appear on their wrists, followed a few months later by Steven Grant Rogers. Little did the three know that the two grew up together, Bucky protecting Steve who had a myriad of health problems- and didn’t let it stop him to his soul mate’s dismay. Steve was always picking fights with those assholes who decided to bully and harass others, often leading to Bucky stepping in to protect the smaller of the pair, and then cleaning him up afterwards. Neither of them recognised the other three names on their wrists, Thor and Loki’s on their right, and Sif on their left, just under the other name. Ten years after they were born, Natalia Romanova appeared on the other five’s wrists. While the Asgardians wondered if she was close in location to Steven and James, Bucky and Steve wondered if she was in Russia, like her name may indicate, or somewhere else. Similarly, they also wondered if the other three were close together, and if they were near Natalia. She was only new-born, so she needed someone, and it was obvious that Loki, Thor and Sif were the oldest of the group so far- wouldn’t they be best to watch out for the kid?

Natalia was a different matter. She always tried to _not_ focus on the names on her wrists. To do so could lead to her looking for them later on. That could become a weakness, and in the Red Room there was no room for weakness. Besides, if they were found, the Red Room may use them too. Or worse- use them against her. So it was best to ignore the names, she decided. Make it seem as if they meant nothing. As if they didn’t exist.

When Bucky fell from the Hydra train, Steve was devastated. While they had had to hide their relationship in public, it made it no less painful to lose his soul mate. His very heart felt like it was tearing itself to pieces, dying with Bucky. The only comfort he had was that Bucky’s name hadn’t disappeared. It had simply lightened from jet black to grey. He didn’t know what it meant; all he knew was that he had lost the most important person in the whole world to him. And anger at Hydra for his loss spurred him on in his mission. The Asgardians had been in the midst of battle when it happened, and it was noticeable that something was wrong. The lightning attacks increased, killing enemies from the oncoming army ten in each direction in front of Thor. Sif truly showed her mantle as Goddess of War, cutting through her opponents as if they had simply been standing there, unarmed. Several had the chance to raise their weapons in defence, yet it mattered not. One swift stroke of her double bladed sword destroyed whatever weapon they had and killed them quickly and efficiently. A battle cry left Loki as magic streamed out of him, doing as much damage to the oncoming army as Thor had done with his lightning. After the wave of raw energy had passed, he was a blur, sending knives into the soldiers stupid enough to continue trying to come at him. He worked his way towards the other two, keeping in mind their safety. They had lost one they did not yet know. He did not want to lose someone he already knew and loved, and was sure the other two would feel the same. Natalia felt relief at the sight of the faded name. She didn’t know what it meant that his name was grey, instead of gone completely, but she was sure it meant James Buchanan Barnes was dead. It was one less person to be used against her by anyone, by any of the Red Room’s enemies. It was one less weakness to worry about.

Soon after, the throbbing in their wrists alerted them that something similar had happened to Steve. Another name darkened to grey and Natalia faced the same sense of relief that he could no longer be used against her. However, faced with the fact that there was no one to take out their frustrations on this time, Sif, Thor and Loki got drunk with the Warrior’s Three before the three soul mates collapsed into bed together to sleep off the alcohol, only to wake up to killer headaches the next morning. Their resolve to find Natalia had grown, but still she could not be located, and they did not know why. But they would keep looking.

Years later, new names slowly began to appear on their wrists. Clint Barton, Virginia Potts, Anthony Edward Stark, Bruce Banner and Jane Foster. Clint grew up in a circus, always wondering about the names on his wrist (especially why Natalia Romanova changed to Natasha Romanoff) until he heard about the child genius son of Howard Stark. He determined that one day; he would meet the other boy. However, as he grew up, his life became one of crime as he used his talents with a bow and the skills he picked up at the Circus, to become a thief, before he got noticed and recruited by S.H.I.E.L.D. His mentor and S.O Phil Coulson helped him find a reason for his life- to protect people. And when a mission called for him to assassinate a Russian spy, he hesitated, something staying his hand, even though he had the red haired beauty in his sights. He didn’t kill her. Instead, he shot her with a tranquilizer and took her in. He got one hell of a lecture of Coulson for disobeying his orders, but when he realised she had the same list on her wrists, except with one difference. Where his read Natasha Romanoff, hers read Clint Barton. She had railed against S.H.I.E.LD as well as him at first, not wanting to open herself up to weakness, and still having a lingering sense of loyalty to the Red Room, but she came to realise she owed Barton a debt. He spared her life, not even knowing it was her name on the list. Perhaps she could give S.H.I.E.L.D a shot. And Barton was good enough that he wasn’t so much of a weakness. He was lethal himself. So she became his partner, in more ways than one.

Virginia ‘Pepper’ Potts, led a happy enough life, and when the chance to become the personal assistant of Tony Stark arose, she took it, having taken other similar jobs in the past. He had the ability to drive her crazy, and he didn’t even really realize who she actually was for a few years, while he was on a self-destructive binge. It was only just before that fateful trip to Afghanistan that Colonel Rhodes pointed the list on her wrists out to him that Tony noticed. It had left him floundering, and she told him that they could talk about it after he got back from his trip, and gave him time to think. A part of her had always wished she hadn’t done that, because the time he was missing was hell, only having his name still in jet black on her wrist telling her he was alive keeping her going through the worst of it. But then, he became Iron Man, and she had new worries to deal with concerning him, but they were getting on better- it still didn’t stop her wanting to whack him over the head with a mallet at times however.

Tony Stark led a lonely childhood. His father was more interested in finding the man whose name was on Tony’s wrist, instead of caring so much for Tony, but he threw himself into his own studies and experiments, trying every way possible to make his dad proud. His mother was better. She loved Tony without a shadow of a doubt- but that sense of comfort was taken from him when they died in a car crash. He began drinking and partying and he slept with many partners, not really knowing what he was looking for. Perhaps he was hoping to run into someone who happened to have the same list on their wrists as he did. Perhaps then things would be better. Until then, however, it was up to Pepper Potts, James Rhodes and Happy Hogun to try and watch him, and be there for him, even though he failed to realise that Pepper, smart, wonderful Pepper, was one of the names on his list, and she had been there all that time, waiting for him to realise, and he only realised it before _that trip_. When he was kidnapped and held hostage in Afghanistan they worried about him, he knew, and all he could think about was getting back so he could talk this through with Pepper, and try and make it work even though, with him involved, it would probably be a mess. And when he came back, they worried even more, especially when he began to construct the Iron Man persona. But nothing would dissuade him. Not even dying. And didn’t that exasperate Natasha when she was trying to get him to at least be honest with Pepper? How could one of the people she and Clint were linked with have such a lack of care with his own life- especially when the other one of their weird group of names had been so sensible, and doing all she could to keep Tony on track? So she watched him for Fury and helped Coulson get Stark working on a cure, before playing her part to take out Vanko and Hammer.

Bruce was another lonely child, and again the reason was his father. This time, Bruce was less lucky than Tony. Where Tony’s father had mostly ignored him, Bruce’s was physically abusive. Like Tony, he threw himself into his studies to escape his father, eventually getting his doctorate, and working with Gamma Radiation to try and recreate the Super Soldier Serum. Then the accident happened. Little did he know that his name on the wrists of his soul mates flickered for a while, causing worry from all of them, until it solidified once more in jet black. But the absorbed radiation had left him permanently changed. Now he had to deal with The Other Guy making an appearance if he became too angry, and he was being chased by the army who wanted to dissect him.

Jane Foster, much like Pepper, had led a happy enough life, if a tad on the lonely side, when it came to making friends. She was nice enough, and got on well with people, but her quick, science geared brain had left her miles ahead of her peers in school, and she would often confuse her classmates with what Darcy would later come to affectionately call ‘science babble’. It was only at college level where she met others who kept up with her that she was able to learn how to start to tone it down a little, and even if she didn’t, at least there she had people who could keep up with her thoughts, strange as they could become. And then, New Mexico happened, and Thor had literally dropped right out of the sky and she had _hit him with her car!_ How mad was it that he had fallen into her lap like that, and brought with him tales of other worlds, introduced her to two others of their strange little bond (unique from what she could gather) and almost died protecting her from some enchantress with an obsession with him, thus regaining his powers. After that, things only began to get stranger.

One thing that they all worried about however, were the last two names. They had appeared almost fifteen years after Jane’s name had appeared. Hermione Jane Granger and Cassia Lily Potter. Hermione was born the September before Cassia and what none of them knew was that the two girls met when they were eleven and on the train to school.

Until their fourth year at Hogwarts, the two girls kept the full extent of their relationship secret until Christmas of their fourth year, and the Yule Ball. As one of the champions of the Tri-Wizard Tournament, Cassia had to be one of the ones to open the ball, so she asked Hermione to go with her. It was the best day of her life, she thought. The other three champions grinned at the sight of all the gaping faces as the youngest Champion entered with her Girlfriend.

Fleur had been the first to notice it. A little known fact about Veela were that they were able to see Soul Bonds. One of the shimmering gold lines connected the two girls and other ten gold threads spun out from them to others who were nowhere near them. She had kept the eight to herself, but told her fellow champions about the two girls.

“They’re soul mates?” Cedric asked.

“Oui. But zey will be faced with opposition to zeir relationship.”

“These beliefs are outdated. They have a bond deeper than most couples, and it should not be contested.” Krum said. “I for one vill be taking their side.”

“Me too,” Cedric nodded.

After that, they approached the two girls.

“How do you know?” Cassia asked. She was pretty sure she wanted to go for her wand, up until they assured her they were siding with her and Hermione.

“We want you to know, we’re on your side. You shouldn’t have to hide to protect the idiots who cannot see you two are meant to be together,” Cedric said.

“How would we tell people?” Hermione asked. “Make a banner and hang it up outside the great Hall?”

“No, but the Yule Ball is going up,” he answered.

“You should go together,” Fleur added.

“Ve will keep others from ruining your night,” Viktor ended.

“You would?” Cassia asked, confused. “Why?”

“Everyone deserves to be ‘appy. You two as well.”

So, the two girls took their advice and on the Yule Ball, they walked in, arm in arm and they danced together, ignoring the stares and whispers. At the end of the night, Ron had kicked off at them, saying that it wasn’t natural, and Cassie had snapped at him.

“If you think that, you can bloody well sod off and don’t come back. Hermione and I have each other’s names on our wrists, and nothing will change that. You aren’t going to split us up because you don’t like us being together.”

The next morning, he came back and grovelled, saying he was sorry. Grudgingly, they gave him another chance. A few days later, Fred and George took him to one side.

“You’d better keep it together little brother. If we find you’ve tried to hurt either of those two girls again, you will regret it. We think it’s great they’ve gotten together, so let it be.”

Ron swallowed and nodded. He knew what the twins could and would do to him, so he didn’t try anything again.

Many teachers tried to take the girls to one side and explain to them that their type of relationship just wasn’t done, but neither was having any of it, explaining they had each other’s names on their wrists, so nothing would persuade them to split up.

They stuck together through the best and the very worst of the years that passed, weathering the war. That was, up until Cassia’s seventeenth Birthday. The week before, the Grangers came to pick her up. Dan and Emma had been very accepting of her relationship with their daughter and they all left the country for a holiday in France. It was there that the protection spell her mother had placed on her unravelled, revealing one hell of a surprise.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Cassia was woken by Hermione’s gasp. She had fallen asleep with her arm around the older witch’s waist. She looked up through her dark hair at the brunette to see her staring at her.

“What is it Mya?”

Hermione reached out and touched something on top of her head, and it sent a shiver down Cassia’s spine. “If I hadn’t seen the results myself and known that it would cover you in fur, I would have thought you had swallowed Polyjuice with cat hair. As it is… well, I think you’ve gone through a magical inheritance. You should look in a mirror.”

Cassia got out of bed and went over to the wardrobe, which held a mirror on the front. She let out an involuntary shriek. Her ears had become cats ears, her eyes had slit shaped pupils and a black tail swished behind her. The fur on her ears and tail were long, jet black like her hair, and very soft.

There was a thumping of running feet and Emma and Dan burst into the room, before coming to a stop, seeing Cassia’s new look.

“What happened?” Emma asked, a groan in her voice.

“Cassia’s come into her magical inheritance… I think.” Hermione said.

“Shouldn’t I have woken up in pain in the middle of the night if these grew so quickly in such a short period of time?” Cassia asked.

“It’s all I can think of,” Hermione shrugged apologetically.

“I’m part cat!”

“If it helps, I actually think you’re a Neko.”

“Not really,” Cassia moaned, sitting down on the bed, burying her face in her hands.

Hermione wrapped her arms around her. “Hey Cassie, it’ll be alright. We’ll figure something out.”

“What’s wrong with this?” Emma asked. “What’s so bad about being a Neko?”

“Neko’s, if caught, are enslaved in the wizarding world. Sold off to the highest bidder. I think we’re going to have to stay out of there for a while, until Cassia learns to hide her new features.”

“Slavery?” Dan asked, looking angry.

“Unfortunately. For now, we’re safe here, but soon we’re going to have to disappear. They hunt Neko’s. It’s apparently a profitable business.”

“We’ll look at options later, when we’ve figured out how this happened,” Dan said. “As you said, we’ll be safe here for now.”

Just then, there was a tap on the window. They all looked round to see an owl. Hermione got up and went over to the window and took the letter it held, and the owl flew off. “Cassia, it’s addressed to you. I don’t recognise the handwriting.” She handed it over, sitting beside her.

Shakily, Cassia opened the letter and began reading aloud. She would never keep anything from Hermione, or Hermione’s parents, and Hermione was the same, which is why the adults trusted the two teens to share a room.

“Dearest Cassia, if you are reading this, then we are dead, and have been for some time. This is the first letter of many that I plan to write. I will write a new one each year until the war is done and we are safe, so you will have the most current one depending on when we died if we do not survive this. Right now, you are only one year old and we celebrated your birthday two days ago,” she let out a sob as she suddenly realised who this must be from. Hermione ran her hand up and down Cassia’s back reassuringly.

“It’s all right love. Take your time,” she said, also realising.

Emma sat down on the other side of the young girl and began stroking her hair. Cassia took several deep breaths, and blinked rapidly before continuing, even though all her emotions were in overdrive, fighting for prominence inside her. “You were so happy with your first broom, a gift from Sirius. He adores you almost as much as we do. But there are things you need to know. If you are reading this, then firstly I want to wish you a Happy Seventeenth Birthday. You’re an Adult now, but don’t let that stop you. Merlin knows it never stopped your father or your godfather. You will no doubt have noticed some rather sudden changes. That would be the glamour wearing off to reveal your true self. I put it on you to protect you. I am not who everyone thinks I am. I am a Neko, adopted by non-magical humans, and only your father and godfather know the truth. This was to help protect both myself and you, my darling. You need to remain hidden. All I can suggest is that you look for your soul mates and hide yourself in the muggle world. If the war is still on going, then remain out of it. Do not fight in a war for people who will enslave you. I do it for James. These are his people, and your father will not let innocents suffer, so he fights. Therefore I fight. But you need not. Especially if we have been killed. There is nothing holding you to the wizarding world anymore. Live your life. Be free. And remember that we love you with all our hearts. All my love, Mummy.”

Cassia broke down crying, curling into herself. This was the first time she had ever seen anything written by her mother, and it was a letter telling her she was loved and what she was.

Hermione kissed her forehead, tightening her hold on Cassia. “Hey, it’s alright, we’ll figure this out.”

“All I ever wanted was something from one of them, and now I have a letter from her, saying she and dad both love me. And it came on my birthday.” She started crying harder as her heart wrenched at the thought of her mother planning ahead, just so she could be sure Cassia would know everything about what happened, and to wish her a happy birthday when she came of age.

She cried for ten full minutes. In that time, Dan slipped out of the room and made tea while his wife and daughter did their best to comfort her, bringing four mugs back up the stairs of the villa to the room Hermione and Cassia shared. He crouched down and put the tray on the floor, before picking up a single mug.

“Here, drink this,” he said. The tea helped her begin to calm down, the warm liquid soothing her as it ran down her throat, relieving it of the dryness that came as a combination of sleep and crying. “Feeling any better?” He asked when she finished. By then, Hermione and Emma had also accepted their cups of tea.

She nodded. “Thanks.”

“It’s no problem. You’re a part of this family now too. And family always looks out for one another. That letter was as much a shock as it was anything else, and an emotional one. Combined with your change, well, you were bound to be shaken at the least.”

“Are you ready for breakfast and presents?” Emma asked.

“You didn’t need to get me anything.”

“Nonsense. Like Dan said, you’re a part of the family now, and family gets presents.”

 

* * *

 

A few short hours later Hermione and Cassia were wandering through a small little town in Provence, that was just under an hours walk from the villa they were staying in. Cassia was wearing a pale blue vintage style dress with a fitted bodice white embroidery on the straps and the bottom of the skirt which had been a gift from the Grangers and Hermione wore a mostly pink dress that had palm leave designs all over it. Cassia had placed a glamour on herself to be able to come out to the town.

They had looked through two shops and were thinking of stopping in a small café for a cold drink when they both felt it. ‘It’ was a pull on their magic- one they had both felt before, moments before their first meeting. It was a tug on their hearts, as if their magic was pulling them with a lead that entered their chests. Wide eyed, both seventeen year olds exchanged a look.

“What should we do?” Cassia asked her.

“We’ve talked about this- it’s always worth going to at least meet them.”

“What if they don’t want to meet us?”

“We’ll deal with that when it comes to it,” Hermione answered, wrapping her arm around her shoulders. Cassia was starved for affection and hid many scars. Hermione knew the only reason she wasn’t covering her arms was because she could now use a glamour charm outside school. That was where her fear of rejection was stemming from. “And besides, you’ll always have me. You’ll never be able to get rid of me.”

Cassia smiled at her, before steeling herself, visibly. Then, she headed in the direction of the pull, leading the way, her sandal clad feet lightly hitting the cobbled and uneven ground. They found themselves entering through the backdoor of an old, disused building, and quietly ascending the worn, rundown stairs until they reached a second level. They saw a man by a window, crouching down. He had long brown tangled hair and strangely enough for this weather, wore mostly leather. What was even stranger was that his left arm was metal and that he had a gun strapped to his back and also a larger one in his hands, pointing out the window.

Hermione stopped, not knowing what to do, but something strange began to happen to Cassia. She froze for a moment, but it was enough for Hermione to see her glamour waver and fall and her eyes change, a gold shimmer clouding them- and then she was running, her feet strangely silent, as if being masked by magic. She leapt, graceful and bringing to mind a cat pouncing on prey and she landed on the man’s back. He stood and tried to shake her off, but Cassia, or whatever had taken her over, was having none of it. She buried her hands in his hair, and the gold glow enveloped them and his head. Moments later, he fell to his knees, and she fell off him. Hermione ran over to them and rolled Cassia onto her back. She was unconscious. It had all happened so fast, Hermione had not had the chance to do anything. The man, who was wearing a mask, was panting, and supporting himself on his hands and knees. He ripped off his mask and she saw confused blue eyes staring at them.

“How did she do that?” He panted, looking between Hermione and Cassia.

“Do what?” Hermione asked incredulously. The man was very handsome, but obviously highly confused and disorientated. He held a slightly mad look in his eyes.

“Bring back my memories and get rid of the mind control?”

“Her magic acted up. I don’t know more than that,” Hermione said.

Suddenly he grabbed her wrist and was examining it, and then the other. Then he grabbed Cassie’s wrists.

Hermione began to register the burning in her right wrist and looked down. Once again, a grey name was darkening, becoming black. It had happened for Steven Grant Rogers two years previously. Now it was happening for James Buchanan Barnes. And it was happening to Cassia’s wrist too.

Now, the man was pulling up the sleeve covering his non-metal arm, revealing all the names on her and Cassia’s wrist all on one arm, minus James Buchanan Barns and with Hermione’s and Cassia’s.

“How long have you been following me?”

“We weren’t. We were following our magic, to you, from five minutes ago. I take it you’re James then?”

He nodded and swallowed. “Or at least, I was. I’m not so sure now.”

“Help me get her back to our villa. You can figure it out there.”

He nodded again and picked Cassia up. Cassia was still unconscious. Hermione applied a glamour to her again. “So you’re both witches?”

“Yeah. We’ll explain everything later. Come on.”

“We should stick to the ally’s. I want to remain unseen. We can’t afford to be followed.”

“Alright then. But it’s about an hour’s walk from the town to the Villa.”

“Just do what I say, and we’ll be fine.”

There was a sense of urgency in his voice. He had been about to shoot someone, and said he was under mind control. That meant there was someone behind this. Meaning someone could be watching for him. And with a metal arm, James Barnes was quite distinctive. After finding out where the villa was, he led the way, leading her on a path that stuck to the shadows during a sunny day, and stuck to well covered country roads. It took far longer to get back to the villa, but he seemed determined to keep hidden, his eyes darting all over the place, looking for threats. They surprised Hermione’s mum when they came through a small gap in the hedge opposite the pool.

“What’s going on? What happened to Cassia? Who is he?” Emma asked, hurrying over to them.

“Mum, this is James Barnes. Cassia kind of freed him from some sort of mind control. Her magic just took over.”

“Bring her inside. We’ll lay her down on the sofa.”

Hermione followed, leading James to the Villa. He put Cassia down on the sofa, and looked at Hermione who had immediately begun fussing over the black haired girl. “Is there anything I can do?” He asked.

“Not unless you happen to have a pepper up potion?” Hermione asked.

“No.”

“Then all we can do is sit down and wait for her to wake up. Hopefully it won’t take long.”

“I’ll go get us drinks,” Emma said, hurrying into the kitchen, collecting glasses and a pitcher of ice cold lemonade.

“So, are you from England?” James asked Hermione, obviously unsure of what to say. He was confused now there was nothing to do, and it was obvious she didn’t want to talk about anything serious with Cassia being unconscious still.

“Yes we are. How’d you guess?”

“You’re accent. I knew someone once… I think I did…” he was frowning.

“Are you alright?” Hermione asked.

“Everything’s quite jumbled. I’m trying to decide what was real and what wasn’t,” he looked at his non-metal arm to the list. “At least Steve’s still alive.”

“Two years ago, his name went from grey to black. Today, yours did the same.”

“Grey?”

“Those two names have been grey ever since Hermione was born, Cassia’s too I’d bet,” Emma told him. “We never figured out why.”

“Who is Steve, by the way? His name sounds familiar,” Hermione said. “And I’m guessing you know him.”

James couldn’t help the smile. Even though everything else in his head was madness at the moment. “Yeah, I did. We grew up together. At the time Steve was the smallest guy around but he never liked bullies, so he’d always pick a fight with them. He was so stubborn, but never able to actually take them. I had to step in to save him from getting beat up too heavily. Honestly, going out with Steve was like taking a Chihuahua with anger management issues for a walk in a dog park with only Alsatians. But then I got sent off to war. Steve couldn’t get into the army due to multiple health issues, but it didn’t stop him trying. I got captured and was being tested on. The next time I saw Steve, he was taller than me and full of muscle. Apparently, they’d used this super soldier serum on him.”

“He was Captain America?” Emma guessed.

“Yep. That he was.”

“That would explain how his name returned to black two years ago. It was when he was thawed out of the ice!” Hermione said.

“Thawed out of the ice?” That had Bucky confused. And angry. If someone had hurt Steve…

“He took a plane with a bomb meant for New York down and landed it in the ice. It was only two years ago that the plane, and he himself, were found. They thawed him out.”

“But he’s alright?” Bucky asked.

“He seems it whenever someone manages to film him,” Emma reassured.

“Well, that’s good.”

 

* * *

 

“Steve, stop pacing, it’s not going to do anything,” Pepper told him.

“But his name is black again. Bucky’s alive!”

“We noticed. Fretting isn’t going to do anything, though,” Natasha added. The super soldier was pacing a hole in the floor.

“We’ll find him. I have JARVIS running searches for him. He’ll turn up. Or, hell, he may come to us. I mean, it’s no secret that you’re here.” Tony supplied, trying to get Steve to calm down- the pacing was getting rather annoying.  

“It’s just that I know what it’s like to wake up decades in the future and not have a clue of what’s going on. I don’t want that for Bucky.”

“We will find him, Steve, we even have Heimdal looking for him,” Sif said. “He cannot go unseen for long.”

Steve sat down heavily, letting out a sigh and gazing out the window. “Perhaps he’s found the other two. He’d probably be alright then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please tell me what you think!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer@ I own nothing!

"So, let me get this straight, you're a soldier from World War Two who almost died, got turned into a conditioned weapon, who killed JFK, and now you remember everything and are free of the mind control because my magic went haywire and possessed me?" Cassia asked.

"That pretty much sums me up, yes." Bucky nodded (he'd asked them to call him that).

Her face was completely serious as she turned to face Hermione. "Can we keep him?"

Hermione just burst out laughing and she buried her head in her knees. Bucky looked a bit bemused, but a smile tugged at his lips. Used to the newly turned seventeen year old by now, Emma just smiled.

Just then, Dan came back from his walk. He stopped short at seeing Bucky, and his whole body tensed. Both recognition and fear flashed through his eyes as he slipped from mild mannered dentist to ex SAS in a heartbeat. He was obviously ready to fight.

"Dan, relax, he's alright," Emma said, standing up to reassure him.

"Do you know who that is?"

"Yes, he's James Barnes. His name is on Hermione's and Cassia's wrists," she answered.

Bucky stood slowly. "Sir, I know you recognise me as the Winter Soldier, but before that, I was a Howling Commando and one of the other names on my wrist is Steve Rogers, Captain America. He'll vouch for me. And Hermione can tell you that Cassia did something to me earlier with magic that stopped me from taking out a target- that will vouch for me as well, because I have been under heavy conditioning the past few decades. I mean no harm to you, or your family."

"I saw you take out a whole unit of men. Good men. Just to get to a prisoner they were transporting."

"Then you know how well I fight."

"Is that a threat?"

"No, it's a promise. All those skills will never be used against your family. I'll use them to help protect your family. I am who I was before the Red Room in Russia got hold of me." Bucky pulled up his sleeve, revealing the list of names, all of them on his one normal arm. "Before, anyone who interrupted me in a mission would have gotten killed for it. No matter who they were. The list on my wrist meant nothing to me. Now, I wouldn't dare put a gun to their heads. Believe me- the last thing I want is to hurt anyone here. If I wanted any of you dead, you wouldn't know I was there until you died."

Some of the tension left Dan's shoulders. "If I think you're going to go back on your word, I don't care how good you are, I will kill you."

"Understood," Bucky answered.

"Good." Dan walked past him, still weary. "So tell me how you ended up bringing home the Winter Soldier when you only went out for a walk."

Hermione was the one to tell the story, as she had been the one to see all of it. It seemed that, the moment her magic took over, Cassia blanked out, so she remembered nothing after reaching the top of the stairs.

"Well, I suppose there's less of a threat from the wizarding world now." Dan said.

"Why would they be a threat?" Bucky asked, sitting back down. "I thought Hermione and Cassia were magical."

"We are," Cassia said, "but apparently, I'm what's known as a Neko. And by wizarding law, I should be enslaved if not killed. We only found out what I was today though."

His fists tightened. These two were two of the other soul mates he and Steve shared. Plus, Cassia had freed him from the grip the conditioning kept on his mind. He'd be damned if anything happened to either of them. Plans started to move through his mind, various places to set up safe houses to protect them at and the routes to get there. Places where they wouldn't be found.

"We were planning on heading for New York soon, and disappearing from the Wizarding World all together," Cassia told him.

"Why New York?"

"Well, that's where the Avengers are." Hermione answered.

"I'm afraid all I know about the current times are what I needed for missions," Bucky explained. "Whoever these Avengers are, I don't know them."

"Well, they're a group of superheroes. Captain America's one of them, but we were going because so is Tony Stark, and his past assistant, who now runs his company, Virginia Potts. We knew it was his name we had on our wrists. Until today, we didn't know Steve was Captain America."

"How good are they? I know Steve's talents, and if Tony Stark is Howard Stark's son, then he's going to be a genius. What else is there?"

"Well, like you said, he's a genius. He built a flying suit of armour with multiple weapons," Dan answered. "There's also the Hulk who gets stronger the more angry you make him, a couple of spies who are apparently very good at what they do, and also a couple of Norse Gods."

"This may sound a little odd, but what if the Norse Gods on the team are actually three of our other soul mates?" Hermione asked.

"So definitely three, potentially six others already there, plus those with other skill sets. It's as good a place as any I suppose. I was going to suggest somewhere else and contacting Steve from there, but that sounds good enough," Bucky said. It would be easy enough to get onto a ship to America. Far harder to do so on a plane. For him at least. Cassia, Hermione, Dan and Emma could use their passports and board as normal passengers. He would have to sneak on- but it didn't matter. He'd done it before. "You'll need to book rooms on a ship to America; it'll be the best way to travel. I'll have to sneak on board."

"You think they'll come soon?" Dan asked.

"I've encountered wizards before, but never those who search for Neko's. It's possible. But then again, they may wait until news of one drifts there way, then it could take ages. We shouldn't risk it."

"I'll start looking then," Emma said, heading for the laptop.

"I'm sorry, this is all my fault," Cassia said.

"No, it isn't. It's those backwards idiot wizards." Hermione said. "You can't help what you are. They have a superiority complex so big I'm surprised the whole muggle world hasn't already noticed them."

"She's right. This is not your fault," Bucky agreed.

"But-"

She was cut off as he stood up and threw her over his left shoulder. "I'm not putting you down until you acknowledge that this isn't your fault, because you can't help being a Neko, and you didn't put those laws into place."

"Put me down!"

"Not until you say it!"

"Fine it's not my fault!"

Bucky huffed and then put her down. "I will make you believe it." He said. "Are they the only threats?"

"Unfortunately, no. There's also Voldemort who's the darkest wizard of all time and Dumbledore, who's determined that Cassia is meant to defeat Voldemort. And he hasn't even given her any proper training." Hermione sighed.

"The whole lot of them are nuts," Dan said. "I've said all along you should have stuck to a non-magic school."

"I know you did dad!" She moaned. "But I managed to keep up with my non-magical studies."

"You did?" Cassia asked.

"We'll help you catch up. You're going to need it if we're going to be living in the non-magical world." Hermione said.

"I've found one leaving in two days. We'll have to get two cabins though."

"Book it. If there are other threats then we can't afford to wait around. The sooner we're at somewhere secure, the better."

It was then that they could all see the soldier in him. He seemed to have gotten over the confusion now that he had something to do and focus on. However, that was only a temporary solution. When there was little to do, he would be focusing on sorting out the mess that were his memories.

"Well, this is definitely one of your more interesting birthdays." Hermione said.

"Yeah. First I learn I'm not even human, and then I learn one of our soul mates is a brainwashed assassin and we're basically going to be on the run from the whole wizarding world. Did I miss anything?"

"At least two of our other soul mates are on the Avengers," Hermione pointed out.

"Ah yes. That." She nodded.

"I've also got us rooms in a New York Hotel. The Waldorf Astoria, even one for you Bucky," Emma said, ignoring the sarcasm. She was used to it by now. Dan went over to the cupboard and pulled out the spare blankets and pillows. He pushed them into Bucky's arms.

"The bed in the spare room's not made up, but that's where you'll be sleeping. Stay out of the girl's room."

"Yes Sir." Bucky nodded. Dan Granger would be no real threat to him, he knew, but this was the father of one of his soul mates. He wasn't about to piss him off.

"Come on, I'll show you the guest room," Cassia said.

* * *

"Sir, I believe I have found something," JARVIS said suddenly, startling the whole group.

"What would that be JARVIS?"

"While conducting scans for Mr Barnes, his name came up. At a booking for a room at the Waldorf Astoria hotel here in New York. It could have been a coincidence, but he is with four others, two of which are Hermione Jean Granger and Cassia Lily Potter. Their birth dates match up to when their names appeared on your wrist sir."

"Who are the other two?" Loki asked.

"Daniel and Emma Granger, parents to Miss Granger."

"When will they be in the hotel, JARVIS?"

"In seven days' time sir. Three standard rooms. I ran further checks and saw the Grangers and Miss Potter coming in by boat, but on the passenger lists, there are no records of Mr Barnes."

"But he's down as being with them for the hotel?" Steve clarified.

"They are, yes. Is there anything else you wish for me to do, Mr Stark?"

"The Waldorf Astoria's the one with that presidential suite, right?" Tony asked.

"They do have one sir, yes."

"Have them upgraded to the presidential suite then and refund the Grangers their money. I'll pay for it," Tony said. "Set something up to pay for anything else they need as well."

"Of course sir."

"When you said he may come here, I didn't actually think he actually would come here." Steve said.

"You were the one to say you hoped he found the other two," Tony replied.

"What do we do now?" Bruce asked. "I mean, we won't know for sure if they aren't some people trying to get something out of us until they turn up and we can look at the girls wrists and Steve can be sure that it is actually Bucky. We have a week until they actually turn up, and if they are who we're hoping we are, well what then?"

"Bruce's right. I mean, Hermione and Cassia are still only seventeen. Someone could blow this whole thing out of proportion, if the wrong person finds out about anything, even just the names." Clint said. This was a huge problem. The press was always looking for a scandal, and so far, the group had been able to keep the bond out of the papers and public knowledge, but if they got hold of this it would be like a piranha feeding frenzy.

"So, what do we do, have them stay in the hotel?" Jane asked.

"I am not fond of that idea," Loki said. "We have enemies. It is again a case of the wrong person finding out the bond between us and them."

"Loki is right, they would be safer here. They are young; the chances are that they will not have much experience in defence. And not enough to make a difference against the kind of threats we have faced." Thor said.

"So, we have rooms prepared for them here and offer them to stay here." Tony said.

"Could bringing them straight here overwhelm them?" Sif asked.

"She has a point. They probably know about Steve, Pepper and Tony, but I doubt they know about the rest of us," Natasha said, finally speaking up. "If we give them a few days in the hotel, introducing ourselves over time to them, and let them think over the offer of staying here, then it'll be easier for them."

"Not to mention the elder Grangers. They may not take too kindly to us barging into the girls' lives." Pepper pointed out.

Tony grabbed his tablet and began looking for something.

"What are you doing Tony?" Bruce asked.

"I'll tell you in a minute. It won't take me long… ooh this is weird." He said after five minutes silence.

"What?" Steve asked.

"Well, there's plenty of information on the Grangers. Both Daniel and Emma are dentists; they even have their own practice and are fairly well off and he used to be in the SAS, quite the service record. Hermione has good grades, even though she always takes her exams a few weeks late, indicating some sort of private tutors, especially seeing as when she was meant to start high school, she dropped off the school system. Cassia on the other hand is an anomaly. Her mother again dropped out of the school system at eleven, but after that, there are absolutely no records of her, until she's listed on Cassia's birth certificate. Cassia's father is only recorded on her birth certificate, there's nothing else on him. Cassia's next records are at age five when she starts attending school a bit late. However, she's listed as an orphan living with her mother's sister and brother in law- there are records for both of them their entire lives. Again though, Cassia drops out of all school lists at age eleven, without a single exam result after she was ten, just like her mother. There's plenty for her cousin, and he seems quite the idiot if the grades are anything to go by, but none for her. No records or anything. Not until she applied for a passport this summer."

"A few questions- one, you're stalking them? And two, how did you get all that so quickly." Bruce asked.

"In reverse order- I'm just that good, and I'm merely fact checking. Trying to verify they aren't some well put together fake before they arrive. However, no one trying to fool us would put together fake files for them with such glaring holes. They'd probably guess we'd run a check, so would want them to be as air tight as possible. I'm leaning towards this being real."

"Apart from one thing, you could find nothing on Cassia's father? Nothing at all?" Natasha asked.

"Nope. All it says is his name is James Charlus Potter. That could be any number of James Potters. He could even have been lying about his name." Tony answered.

"Is this lack of information problematic?" Thor asked.

"It could be. It all depends…" Clint replied.

"On what?"

"Why there's a lack of information."


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing!

They caught a taxi to get them from the port to the hotel. Bucky had managed to sneak on board the ship and then Cassia and Hermione had managed to get him into their cabin. The two girls had shared a bed, and he took the other one. Dan had been none too happy with the sleeping arrangements but they had promised nothing would happen. Besides, Bucky seemed more inclined to remain on alert. He was far too on guard to do anything Dan feared he would do. While he was more than eager to talk with them both, there were times he stopped mid-sentence because he thought a threat was nearby (all of which turned out to be false). He had told them many stories of his time before becoming the winter soldier. Most of them involved him pulling Steve out of fights of some kind. He always seemed to be picking fights with those who were bigger and stronger than him, swearing he could take them, and even using a bin lid as a shield once. Unfortunately, this was all pre-serum, so there was always next to no chance of Steve winning without someone intervening on his side, and that was always Bucky.

They in turn told him small stories about their time in school. They wanted to wait to tell him the more serious ones. If they were going to be meeting up with others who would probably also want to know, they wanted to tell those particular stories as few times as possible. Thankfully, Bucky understood, and only asked for a brief outline of Voldemort and Dumbledore, and their various supporters. This wasn't the type of story that got easier with each retelling. War was hard- and it was something they shouldn't have experienced at that age.

"Voldemort's a straight out psycho, and so are most of his followers. They love to torture and kill and cause fear. They want to take over the world, thinking they're better than everyone else. Dumbledore also thinks he's the best person walking the earth, better than anyone else, and everyone should just do as he says without question. While they are both nuts, they are also clever and powerful. Their followers' intelligence varies, but you should always be careful, just in case." Hermione said.

"Yeah, you'd think Bellatrix LeStrange would be an idiot, but she's as sharp as one of your knives. The insanity and intelligence combined is what makes her so deadly. Trust me," Cassia added.

Bucky nodded at that. He had a load of weapons on him, and had somehow also gotten knew clothes that made him less conspicuous, which included a canvas jacket that covered his metal arm and gloves. Hermione and Cassia suspected he had stolen them. And they wouldn't be wrong either. But they let it go- he had been in need of new clothes. The combat outfit he'd been wearing when they met was in his duffle bag. He had also started calling Hermione doll and Cassia kitten. Both were still trying to convince him to stop calling them by those names; however what didn't help was that Cassia had taken to copying him and calling Hermione doll, and in retaliation, Hermione now called Cassia kitten. Cassia was afraid the name was probably going to stick. The new features didn't help, and Bucky seemed to want to _pet_ her, like she actually was a cat, scratching between her ears and even running his hand over her tail. (She would never admit that it was actually nice, but they could both see how she liked it, by the way her eyes started to slip closed and the fact that Cassia literally _purred_. Something that annoyed the dark haired seventeen year old to no end.)

On the last night of the cruise, Bucky began having nightmares. They woke him up and in turn, woke the girls up. Without even speaking, they both got up and slipped into the other small bed with him. It was a tight squeeze, but they managed, and having them there seemed to calm him down some. The cold of the metal of Bucky's arm penetrated the thin shirt Cassia wore but she ignored it. The warmth of his body more than made up for it.

In the morning, the four who were officially passengers disembarked as normal, while Bucky snuck off the ship. He seemed rather skilled at going unnoticed and he met up with them where the taxis were lined up, waiting to pick up new arrivals. The cab driver was eager to take them; obviously he sensed a large cash sum or something like that. Cassia shook the thought out of her head- that was the type of thing she'd hear Vernon Dursley mutter angrily about when he had to, for some reason, catch a taxi, and she did not want to end up like him.

"Where to?" The driver asked.

"The Waldorf Astoria, please," Emma told him.

"Of course," he nodded.

"So, are you here for a holiday?" The driver asked on the way.

"Yes, but with the intention of looking to buy," Emma replied. She seemed to be the only one really willing to talk, but that didn't faze either of them, and she kept up the conversation well enough.

Bucky and Dan insisted on carrying the luggage. "Honestly, we can carry our stuff." Cassia said.

"I guess I'm just an old fashioned gentleman in some respects, kitten." He winked at her, and in that moment, she saw a flash of lightness in his eyes, a sign of the man he had once been, fun loving and almost careless. It was a sign that he would be able to recover from the trauma left behind by the conditioning and his memories from his time as the Winter Soldier, doing missions for the Red Room. She saw a glimpse of the Bucky Barnes that Pre-Serum Steve Rogers must have seen, before the reality of war set in, and began changing him, even before he was turned into a weapon. And didn't she know plenty about people wanting to use her as a weapon?

She smiled slightly. "Alright then. But don't expect it to stop here. You'll be carrying our shopping bags soon if you're not careful, army boy," Cassia warned, with a wink. If it helped him even slightly by focusing on something he would have offered before to a woman he was with, then who was she to say no? He had allowed some of his old self to come back then, for that moment, and she was sure it was a good thing to encourage. Though, she would insist on carrying her fair share of bags if he ever did come shopping with them.

Emma led the way to the reception desk after the cab driver had been paid and both girls stared openly at the opulence that oozed from the lobby. The chandelier that hung from the ceiling alone was enough to draw awed looks from the girls but add it to the marble floors, the high, strong pillars and the opulent furniture, it floored the two who had never been anywhere so rich looking. The inside of Hogwarts wasn't even this grand. Though, it was a medieval castle. While the outside of it was an impressive and beautiful sight, the interior held nothing on the comfortable luxuriousness of this.

Bucky ended up steering the two of them after Hermione's parents, where Emma had just asked for the keys for their rooms and handed over her I.D. The woman at the computer was searching for them. Suddenly, a look of surprise flooded over her features. "It seems that Mr Tony Stark has had your reservations changed, Ma'am. You've been put in the presidential suite, and everything's been paid for by him. He's even arranged for you and your daughters to have quite a few of the spa treatments at our spa. A tab has been opened for you by him for room service and in all our restaurants and our full fitness centre and pool are both also open to all of you."

This left all of them speechless. The woman saw the shock and smiled. "You must be something pretty important. He's never done this before that I know of. I'll have Benjamin take you up to your suite." She called a man in a smart uniform over. He and another guy took their bags and he also took the card keys off the woman, and they led the way to the elevators, and hit a button. Benjamin unlocked the door to the suite they were in, and then held it open for them, putting the bags he was carrying on the floor, and handing the cards to Dan, who tipped him.

"Thank you," Dan nodded.

"No problem sir." Benjamin nodded, as his friend also received a tip. The two left the group.

"What the hell just happened?" Bucky asked.

"I think Tony Stark knows we're here and that you three have his name on your wrists," Dan said. "But how?"

"He's really skilled with computers, right? Well, he was bound to notice when Bucky's name on _his_ wrist went from grey to black. What if he started looking for him, and well, you booking using all our names set off some sort of alert, Mum? Three of our names are bound to set warning lights flashing."

"I hope you're right," Bucky said. "I'd hate to know he tracked us down in another way, and other less desirable people aren't far behind either."

"We'll be fine," Emma reassured, patting his right arm gently. "Between you and Dan, and your skills with weapons, and Hermione and Cassia's magic, I'm sure we can handle any threat that comes our way. And I'm not half bad at swinging something heavy at around head height either."

Bucky nodded, and the five of them set about to looking around the suite. They were in an entrance hall for lack of a better word. On the table at the centre was a vase, filled with flowers. The living room area was in creams and the sofas were the comfiest thing Cassia had ever been on- the Dursley's would kill to be in a place like this, she knew. Luxury was everywhere- it all screamed money and wealth, and it was the type of thing her relatives had been trying to imitate, and been failing at, now she saw this it was obvious. There were books on the shelves, and a T.V. There was also a dining room and a wet bar. The bathrooms were large and in black and cream and held huge mirrors. Cassia found herself amending her theory about the sofas when she threw herself; face first, onto the bed in hers and Hermione's room. Hermione joined her on the bed, and lay slightly over her back, kissing the back of her neck, before Cassia turned round, so she was lying on her back, looking up at the beautiful, clever brunette witch who was her best friend and the girl she had been in love with since she was eleven.

"If this is being on the run, then I don't really mind it. I mean, what else could a girl want? Luxury, at least two of her soul mates living with her, and two caring adults who are like family- this is the best thing I've had going for me in ages. You have to admit it Hermione, we're on the run, yet also living the high life."

Hermione smiled down at her and kissed her on the lips. "You're right- for once."

"Oi!" She rolled, pinning Hermione to the bed, and tickling her, knowing the older witch was as ticklish as she was.

"Hey doll, kitten, you ready for something to eat?"

Cassia let up on tickling Hermione so they could look to see Bucky lounging in the doorway, smirking. He'd taken note of Hermione's 'weakness' and filed it away for later use when it was needed. Now all he needed to do was discover if Cassia had the same weakness. It would be good to use against them if they were being stubborn.

"I'm famished. What about you, Mya?"

"I could eat," Hermione nodded.

"Well, from what I know, Stark's rich. How about we take him up on his generosity and order room service?" Bucky asked.

Cassia shifted uncomfortably. "We could go out and eat in a café."

Hermione gently nudged her. "You need to learn to accept gifts, Cassi," Bucky saw the brief flicker of a frown cross Hermione's face and took into account Cassia's reaction to that and various other things. She seemed to understand his nightmares more than any other who never really suffered from past horrors should. He knew nothing about her family except for that she was an orphan that had grown up with her Aunt and Uncle who, when mentioned, caused a scowl from the others. Cassia herself always closed up about the subject and tried to change topics, never too subtly either. Add to that the fact that she was uncomfortable with people getting her things, like this, and he was starting to see a picture being painted that was igniting an angry flame within him that made him want to use all his training and know how as an assassin to hunt down her relatives, and take them out in the most painful of manors. But that would have to wait until he knew the full story.

"Come on, it can't hurt. And if he's anything like his old man, he'll be the sort to throw money away on anything. Something like this won't matter to him money wise. In fact, this may be one of the only things he'll actually put much thought into paying for. Let the man foot the bill, kitten," Bucky added, managing not to wince at the thought of Howard. He remembered what he'd done. He couldn't believe he'd killed a friend.

"Alright then, but I want to eat out as much as possible otherwise."

"We can try and find a few small places," Hermione assured.

They headed back to the living room and looked through the menu, before ordering the room service. When it was brought up, they ate in the dining room, before heading back into the living room, and Dan switched on the TV. "Is there anything you want to watch?"

"See if you can find Doctor Who dad! That's brilliant!" Hermione said. "I don't get to see nearly enough of it."

"What's Doctor Who?" Bucky asked.

"A TV show that is awesome. Hermione got me hooked last summer."

"It's about a Time Travelling alien who travels in a 1960's Police Telephone box which is bigger on the inside. He's the last of his kind and normally travels with a human companion. He normally ends up saving some planet or another, most regularly earth, in the past, present and the future," Hermione explained, adding on from Cassia's explanation, her tone bristling with excitement.

Hermione was in luck and they got to introduce Bucky to Doctor Who. It was the Eccleston episode with the Dalek and Van Staten. He really enjoyed it. As another episode began, there was a knock on the front door.

"We didn't order anything else, did we?" Emma asked, standing.

"No, I don't think so," Dan said. He and Bucky exchanged a look, and Dan got up and followed his wife to the door, and Bucky remained with the girls.

All three of them, while appearing to be watching the TV, were in fact, trying to listen in to what was going on out in the entrance hall. The door was opened, and then there was Emma's exclamation of surprise.

"Mr Stark!"

"Hey, we just came to see how everyone was. Thought we'd check in." The voice was one Cassia had never heard before, but the tug on her magic, centred around her heart was there once again, this time twice as strong. Did this mean he'd brought another of their soul mates with him?

"Why don't you both come in?" Emma asked.

They were about to find out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please tell me what you think!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Bucky was on his feet the moment the two men came into the living room and heading for the very tall blonde man whose eyes had focused on him almost instantly. He was taller than Bucky, and his hair was in a military cut. He had blue eyes which lit up when they saw Bucky and his smile was huge, his whole posture becoming straighter than it already was, showing his full height. Bucky made Cassia feel small, but this guy would dwarf her. Yet again, that wasn't saying much for the petite Neko. And she would curse the Dursley's for that fact. She would never be tall because of her stunted growth.

"Bucky!" He all but bounded forward and caught the shorter man in a tight hug.

"Heya Steve. The serum is still permanent, eh?" He replied, his grip tightening around Steve's shoulders, just before they pulled back.

"Pretty much, yeah." Steve nodded. "What happened, Buck? I thought you were dead."

"I was as good as. But some Russian's found me. They patched me up, made a few adjustments and then wiped my mind and conditioned me to follow orders. Cassia broke that a few days ago," He looked back and smiled at her, she smiled back, leaning into Hermione. "We decided to come find you, seeing as you're both quite public, it was easy enough."

Concern flooded Steve's features. "Are you alright?"

"I'll be fine. My arm won't ever be the same though."

"What do you mean?"

Bucky pulled off the gloves and jacket, revealing the metal arm. A sigh came from beside Steve. "Only we could end up with the damn _Winter Soldier_ as a part of our group," this was from a man who wasn't much taller than Hermione. He had short dark brown hair, a goatee beard and moustache and brown eyes that scanned everything very quickly and very critically, much like when Hermione was working on a problem silently. He was wearing a t-shirt which advertised a band Hermione vaguely recognised and levy jeans. This was obviously Tony Stark. "Remind me to warn Natasha not to try and kill him. She may think he's here on a mission or something." He held his hand out to Bucky. "Tony Stark."

"Bucky Barnes." He shook the offered hand, before motioning to the two girls. "This is Hermione Granger and Cassia Potter."

Hermione stood, pulling Cassia with her, trying not to roll her eyes. Cassia was great when you put her in a crisis situation, but put her in a situation like this, and her 'Gryffindor nerve' left her. So, Hermione kept an arm round Cassia's waist, stopping her from running and hiding in her room. If the glamour was off at this moment, she thought, she would probably see the cat ears flat to Cassia's head and her tail swishing in agitation- that was, until she felt said appendage wrap around her waist, adding to the hug from Cassia.

"Great to finally meet you all," he grinned.

"Yeah, and thanks for helping Bucky," Steve nodded, smiling at them.

Cassia shrugged. "It honestly wasn't me. I was just along for the ride really."

"Her magic took over," Hermione explained. "It was actually quite worrying. I had no idea what was happening. She just jumped him."

Tony threw back his head and hooted in laughter while Cassia blushed and glared. "Not like _that_ ," she said, nudging Hermione. "Next time don't make it sound so weird."

"Promise," Hermione said, making an X over her heart. She couldn't resist teasing the younger girl. It was rather fun at times like this. Cassia stuck her tongue out at her.

"Girls," Dan warned.

The group sat down on the chairs and sofa in the living room. "So, how did you get here?" Tony asked Bucky. "You weren't on the ship passenger lists."

"Told you," Hermione said to Bucky.

"I slipped onto the ship easily enough. Got off the same way. Once we were here, there were no problems. But, there was a hell of a shock when we found out you knew we were coming and had upgraded our rooms."

"It was nothing. It's always best to stay in comfort," Tony shrugged.

"Thank you, all the same, Mr. Stark, you didn't have to." Emma said.

"Call me Tony- and yes, I did have to. The rest of us have all been waiting to find these three since we all got thrown together a few years ago."

Cassia raised an eyebrow. "The rest?"

Tony nodded. "Yeah, everyone else is at Avenger's Tower. Pepper, Thor, Loki, Sif, Natasha, Clint, Jane and Bruce. All the Avengers plus some. Brought together to stop an Asgardian Enchantress with an alien army at her back. It was all completely by chance, but yeah, you three were the last. As the Avengers were brought together, we brought in Pepper, who I had known for years, and Jane, who Thor practically landed on, when the battle was over with."

Bucky just started laughing. "I should have bloody guessed!"

Steve grinned. "Yeah well, we could barely convince Thor and Clint that it would be best to give you all a chance to get used to the idea we were all in one place."

"Basically, you have two choices, you can meet the others in other pairs over the course of a few days, or you can come by the tower when you're ready and meet everyone then," Tony said.

"I will warn you, the others probably won't wait long until they decide to come round," Steve said. "When we left Thor was looking like he was going to fly over here at the first chance he got."

"Be fair, he, Sif and Loki have been waiting centuries for the last names to turn up on their wrists, and now they have, they have to wait a while longer. I can see why he's frustrated."

"That's the first time you've ever been the voice of reason Tony."

"Hey! I can be reasonable!"

"Tell that to all the times you take it into your head to do something that will blow something up- regularly the microwave. Don't eat anything he cooks."

"Duly noted." Bucky nodded.

Tony let out a huff.

"Why _did_ you upgrade us? Not that I'm not thankful… And all the other things too?" Cassia asked.

Tony grinned. "We may not have met until now, but the three of you are three of my soul mates. Anyone can tell you that I always make sure that those I care about, even just friends are always taken care of. I have the money to do it, so I do it."

"Just go with it. He won't stop spending." Steve told them.

"Thank you and all, but it is a bit much," Dan added.

"Nah! This is nothing. None of you will ever have to worry about money again, trust me- wait, magic?" He then cottoned on to an earlier part of the conversation. "Like Loki?" This gave testament to Tony's erratic way of thinking. He would proceed with one line of conversation, then hop back to something else, or something new when he felt like it, a fact the others had quickly learnt to deal with, so they didn't remain confused half the time.

"Cassia and I are witches. Well, I am…"

"Technically, I am too, because I have a wand as well, but I lean more to the side of magical creature apparently." The shirts that both Tony and Steve were wearing showed the names on their wrists and the tug from her magic earlier couldn't be argued with, so they were obviously their soul mates. And Bucky trusted Steve, and Bucky had promised to protect her, and Tony Stark was also a superhero so, it was safe, right? If she could not trust them, then who _could_ she trust? She dropped the glamour around her cat features, showing the ears, tail and her real eyes.

Steve's jaw dropped and Tony's eyebrow's shot up. "She's cute, right?" Bucky asked, smiling, reaching over to scratch between her ears, and just managing to before she swatted away his hand.

"That's… one way to describe it. You're a cat girl huh?" Tony asked, his eyes darting between her different cat like features, taking note of the details.

"Neko's the correct term. But yeah, I am."

"It also means that the wizarding world that they were a part of is a threat to her."

"A threat, how?" Steve instantly switched to soldier mode. His muscles tensed and his eyes became far more alert. This was someone who had led men into battle.

"It's legal to enslave Neko's and sell them off to the highest bidder," Cassia said, looking down.

"Are you sure you want to stay here? It's safer at the tower- the security system's the best, I installed it myself, and then there's all of us," Tony told her. "We have rooms set up ready for all of you anyway, we have our fair share of enemies so we set it up just in case the wrong people found out about you all."

Cassia shifted uncomfortably. "I think it's a bit soon."

"Look, I'm ex- SAS, the girls are skilled with magic, and if Bucky stays, then there are his skills put on top of that. I'm sure everything will be fine," Dan added. He wasn't sure about the girls moving in with all of the people on their wrists (people who were fully grown to boot and may take advantage of them, even if they were superheroes. No matter what the girls had gone through, they were still young and had a lot to learn about being adults.) What Dan didn't know was that there was a room set up for him and Emma too. He had just assumed it was for just Hermione, Cassia and Bucky.

"He's right, Tony. If you have JARVIS keep an eye on the area, and we go on alert, things should be alright. Would they be able to track you here through your records?" Steve asked, and was then confused as Hermione and Cassia snorted and began to laugh- really hard. It was down to Emma to explain to the now confused pair.

"They still use owls to send mail. They're stuck in the medieval period."

"Well, we're good on that front. Still, I'll start protecting all the data. We don't know whose looking for Bucky here."

"What's the plan for meeting the others? We may be able to calm them down if they know what's happening," Steve asked.

"With the story the girls have to tell, and have yet to tell me-"

"We still haven't heard the full details!" Emma chimed in.

"I'd say it was best to meet everyone in one go, so we can all get a good scope for the full threat," Bucky said.

"There's more?" Tony was shocked. Every part of him was screaming at him to get the girls to the Tower where they could be better protected if they were in this much trouble. It being considered legal by magicals to enslave Cassia was just one problem, and easily combatted with a few bits of tech, keeping an eye on both Cassia and Hermione and taking out any slavers they found. More than that and protection plans needed to be pulled up several notches.

"I like that plan. Cassia?" Hermione asked, after nodding to give Tony an answer, causing him to quickly type something on his phone before putting it away.

"Yeah, just give me a couple of days to get used to the idea." She had pulled in on herself through the conversation, her arms round her knees, which were against her chest. "I've never told anyone everything. Except Hermione, who's been there for most of it."

"It'll be fine," Steve said, smiling softly. "No one's going to judge you. All we want is for you both to be safe and happy. You don't even have to tell it all at once. You can tell it bit by bit if you want- whatever makes you comfortable." His tone was soft, and genuinely caring, and it put her at ease somewhat. Hermione hugged her, knowing this was hard for Cassia on so many levels. The main reason was because of her childhood- which even she didn't know the full extent of.

Suddenly a phone went off, and Tony pulled it out of his pocket. "You alright Nat?" He paused for a minute and then sighed. "Look, tell him they'll be around in a few days… just, we don't want to rush things… put him on… Thor, no, don't come over here. They'll be at the tower in," he held up three fingers and they all nodded, "three days! Just wait three more days! It's not that long- Steve, you talk to him!" He thrust the phone at the super soldier, eyes rolling in exasperation.

Steve took the offered phone, sighing. "Thor, it's not all that much longer for you to wait- yes, I know that, but let's be reasonable here. We've talked about this, while they had probably guessed it was both me, Tony and Pepper, they didn't know it was all of us, we've only just arranged with them for them to come round in three days to meet up with the rest of us and talk. Look, I'll tell you what, ask Loki to find the local community of wizards and witches and go smite any that enslave Neko's and calm down… trust me it'll be worth it. And, you'll work out stress. Right, Put Loki on… Dog pile him if you've got too, just keep him from just dropping by. Talk to you later." With that, Steve hung up, shaking his head as he handed Tony back the phone. "That almost got out of hand."

"Did you really just tell him to go _smite_ the slavers?" Emma asked, noting her husband had started grinning at hearing that.

"Sometimes it helps if he has a target. That seemed like a viable one considering the situation." Steve sighed. "It's not always an option, but sometimes it does help. He prefers to have something to do, and it was all I could think of at the moment. The others will keep him from dropping by suddenly, even if they don't dog pile him."

"When did you find out we were coming?" Bucky asked suddenly.

"Well, the moment your name turned black, I had JARVIS, my AI, start searching for you. And, for a while now, I've had Hermione's and Cassia's names and their birthday's in the system, so when JARVIS saw your name come up in a hotel booking, paired with theirs, and their details checking out as highly likely being the same ones to be on our wrists, it was a pretty big indicator."

Bucky nodded and relaxed somewhat. There shouldn't be any unwanted followers through _that_ route.

"I'd better get back to the Tower- they may need an extra pair of hands if he takes it into his head to use Mjolnir. You staying here for a while, Steve?"

Steve nodded. "I'll see you later Tony."

Tony stood and pulled something else out of his pocket. It was a folded up envelope and placed it on the table. "If you need anything. See you in three days." He said to the girls and Bucky as he grinned before he nodded to Dan and Emma and walked out.

Steve just shook his head. "That's typical," he was looking at the white envelope.

"What's in there?" Dan asked.

"Credit cards most probably," he leant forward and pulled out five black and gold plastic cards, each with a piece of paper attached. He handed them to the right people, leaving them all stunned. "He's already done that for all of us."

"I can't accept this- it's too much!" Emma said, placing the card back on the table.

"Trust me, Ma'am, he's stubborn. Tony _will_ find a way to transfer all your accounts to that one account so you _have_ to use the card. He's already done it to Natasha. She almost killed him for it. Clint just decided to accept it and moved on, buying small things with it and, every so often, buying something bigger, Bruce had no access to his account for a while, and Thor, Loki and Sif had no account on Earth, so they all used theirs. Pepper's had something like this for years, from being with him for so long, first as his PA, and then him realising who she was to him. Jane tends to use it on extra lab equipment, looking at it as extra funding for research. I tried not to use it, but I didn't have much money myself either. I just set it up with JARVIS that what SHIELD pays me; I put most of it back into Tony's account. He noticed and pushed it all back into mine- doubled."

"Paying him back won't work?" Cassia asked.

"No. Just, do what Clint does if you don't feel comfortable- something to eat every now and then, maybe something a bit more pricey. Just to show there's money going _out_ of the bank. Tony may come off as if he doesn't give a damn, but he cares, a lot. He's had very few people too care about, until recently. This is what he does to show it."

"I can understand Hermione, and Cassia and Bucky, but not Emma and myself," Dan said.

"You're Hermione's parents," Steve shrugged. "He was bound to cover you as well."

Cassia looked down to the small card. There was white paper attached to it, with her name and the PIN number. "I don't really feel comfortable accepting this," she said. "I don't really need money. My parents left me enough."

"Then use that money mostly, but get a few things every now and then with the card," Steve said, "Even if you just take money out and donate it to a charity somewhere. Tony is incredibly stubborn, and he won't stop until you take the card."

She sighed and nodded. "Alright then," Cassia said.

"You really don't like accepting things, do you?" Bucky asked.

Cassia just shrugged, still looking at the card, but her shoulders had tensed up slightly, becoming a bit more hunched. And wasn't that answer enough? This was more than just the extravagance of the gift, he knew. This was something deeper. And whoever had caused it was going to regret it.

"We don't know if it's safe for you to go to your account at Gringotts yet, even with a glamour on," Hermione said. "Until we can be sure, use the card, and keep a record of what you spend, you can always withdraw and convert the galleons to dollars that you need and then donate them to a charity or put it back into the account at a later date."

Steve and Bucky both realised what Hermione was doing. In her head, Cassia would be using her own money as she'd be putting the money back into the account at a later point, or donating it to charity. Cassia relaxed some and nodded. "Alright then."

Steve smiled at her. "Trust me; it'll stop him pestering you. Apart from when you swing by the tower, do you have any plans?"

"Not really, no." Hermione answered. Steve looked at Bucky and got a nod. They could communicate with simply a look and a gesture, much like she and Hermione could- even after all the time they had spent apart. They barely noticed Dan and Emma slip from the room, leaving them be.

"Well, we could always show you around, maybe catch a movie or something," Steve suggested.

"That sounds great, yeah," Hermione was smiling, and Cassia was relaxing. At least they had moved onto more normal topics.

"If we're going out, I'm going to stop in a shop somewhere to get a few more clothes. This is basically the only outfit I have that isn't my combat gear." Bucky said.

"Right then. Do you want to go now then?"

Cassia nodded and Hermione went to tell her parents they were heading out. She was eager to get out and see the sights as her travel options had been highly limited until this summer. The most exotic place she'd been until this summer was Diagon Alley, so being in a new place was something to take advantage of and make as many good memories as possible, just in case she ran out of chances to continue making good memories.

"Right then, I'm ready." Hermione said, coming back into the room as Cassia reapplied her glamour. They left the room and took the lift back to the lobby.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Salem Square was in disarray. The man with the hammer and the, quite frankly terrifying, control of lightning, had landed among them and soon the whole place had been turned into an undignified avalanche of broken and burning wood, metal and glass mixed with turned up and now uneven ground. The fayre that had been going on that day had been a large one, where wizards and witches could come and view creatures before bidding for them at auction from all over the wizarding world. Now, the cages and chains were broken beyond repair, many of the slavers were dead, and the creatures were all gone, and all because of one man. It would be months before anyone could sell anything in the Square again, and far longer before the Slavers returned to the town to sell their own wares, not even knowing that the man had only turned up, not because he knew the reason he had been pointed in their direction, but because he had wanted to do something useful to pass time. Violently putting an (albeit temporary) end to the slavery going on in the wizarding world. Bad things happened when you did something a god, with some vengeful tendencies, did not like, and completely disagreed with. Unfortunately for the wizarding world, they were to experience plenty more painful lessons yet.

* * *

While Bucky picked up a few new sets of clothes (legally this time) Hermione dragged Cassia off to the women's department of the store. "What do we need to get?" Cassia asked, frowning in confusion as Hermione headed with determination deeper into the maze of clothes.

"Apart from the few things you got this summer, and your school uniform- which you won't need again- your clothes are hand me downs from Dudley- your obese male cousin. You need more clothes. Especially seeing as we're going to be meeting the others in three days."

"Then you're getting something as well."

"But I don't need-"

"I am not buying a load of things on my own!"

"Fine!"

The first thing Hermione did was find the underwear section, and they ended up picking out quite a few things from there. Then, there were the rest of the clothes. Two pairs of jeans, six t-shirts, three check shirts, two smart shirts (one green, one white) four skirts, two dresses and three pairs of shoes (trainers, boots and heels) later, Cassia was done. Hermione had also bought herself a dress and a pair of shoes to keep her girlfriend satisfied that she hadn't been buying alone. When they met up with Bucky and Steve, Bucky was wearing a new waterproof jacket and gloves and with several new bags.

"I thought you were only getting a few things," Steve said, raising an eyebrow.

"She was in desperate need of new things. Until this summer the clothes she usually wore were awful. It was going to come to this anyway, but we were here, so I thought it best to get the clothes now, and get it over with. She grumbled about it all the way through."

"You made me try everything on!"

"Better to be sure than to buy something that won't fit."

"It was a nightmare."

"Come on Kitten, we'll be late for the film if you two keep bickering," Bucky said, throwing an arm around her shoulders. None of them had really been paying attention to what was coming out in the cinema, so they decided to catch the next film showing- something called The Hunger Games. Cassia came out of the film in a state of shock. "How could they leave it _there?_ " She asked. "What's going to happen to Katniss and Peeta now?"

"Please tell me that doesn't actually happen," Bucky said. "The whole fight to the death thing."

"Not that I know of," Steve said.

"Hang on a second," Hermione said. She headed over to one of the attendants, a boy about hers and Cassia's age and talked to him for a few minutes. He was grinning widely at her as they talked, but then he said something, which she shook her head too, and he stopped smiling, and he turned away.

Hermione came back, looking shocked. "Well, that was rude."

"What happened?" Steve asked.

"After asking if the film was based on books, and getting an affirmative, he asked me out. I told him as lightly as I could, that I was already in a relationship, and he just stopped talking to me and walked away!"

Bucky rolled his shoulders. "You get any grief, let me know."

"Yeah, especially if they're persistent," Steve said. Men who pushed women into things were some of the lowest human beings around. Steve _hated_ it. There was no denying that both Hermione and Cassia were highly attractive girls, Hermione with her lightly tanned skin and chocolate brown eyes and shoulder length curls, and Cassia with her longer dark curls, smooth pale skin and emerald green eyes. They would draw a lot of attention- and there was the potential that not all of it would be good, even though good looks did not equate to someone else's right to harass them. If they _were_ harassed, he and Bucky would step in to help keep them safe.

"Thanks, but I know a couple of things to keep off unwanted advances. I don't think they'd be too concerned with flirting if they had a flock of birds pecking at their face," Hermione said.

Cassia snorted. "Ron certainly didn't like it," She wrapped her arms around Hermione's waist as they began walking. She saw the guy Hermione had approached and caught his eye and mouthed 'mine'. His eyes widened and he went bright red, the colour of a ripe tomato. No one else noticed and Cassia was content to move on with the other three, not letting go of Hermione. Bucky and Steve looked at each other.

These two could be scary if they wanted to be. Birds?

They stopped in a small café for food and began discussing the film. "I can't believe I cried when Rue died. I thought I'd never cry in a film," Cassia said.

"I was surprised too," Hermione said, pulling Cassia into her. "It's alright though, plenty of people cry in scenes like that."

"I liked that Thresh kid, when he got the girl from District Two." Bucky said.

"I quite liked the red headed girl- she was clever about the way she worked." Steve said. "She was quick thinking."

"I liked Katniss the best," Cassia said.

Hermione's smile told Steve and Bucky that, even though Cassia had left out an explanation, she knew why Cassia liked the main character. Though, they both had to admit, they were fond of the protagonist as well.

"I definitely want to find out what's going to happen to her."

"Well, like I said, it's a book series, the first is the Hunger Games, then it's Catching Fire, and finally, Mockingjay. We could find it if you like."

"That would be great," Cassia smiled at her.

"What about you, doll? Who was your favourite?" Bucky asked her.

"Gale was. Definitely. He obviously wanted to do something about the situation, but was at a loss for what to do. I think, if given a chance, he would find some way to help his people."

"I felt sorry for Gale," Cassia said. "It must have been hard for him, caring for Katniss like that and then, not only having to watch her in the fight to the death, but also watch her be with another guy."

After food, they wandered over to the nearest bookshop and Steve beat Cassia to the books, and then to the till, before handing her the box set of the three books. He and Bucky had talked about her reactions to being given things and Bucky's observations which were leading him to suspect a very unhappy childhood. They resolved to try and get her used to being given gifts. One of them would take Hermione to one side later and bring her in on the plan. Steve was the one to get the opportunity when Bucky pulled Cassia off to look in a shop window, asking if any of what was in the display (crystal balls, fairies, dragons etc.) were actually in the wizarding world. While he may have had a few missions in the magical world, it had never required him to know the ins and outs of the magical world. Only of the routines of his targets.

"Well, there are dragons, fairies and crystal balls- which are about as useless as they are here by the way, there's no use to divination- and a whole host of magical creatures. I can give you a book on them, if you'd like."

"I'd love to hear about them. I don't mind reading, but couldn't you tell me stories about them, kitten? You've been a witch for years."

"Alright then," she nodded, smiling up at him.

"I'm going to guess," Steve said quietly to Hermione, "that Cassia hasn't had the best of childhoods. Now, I don't want you to tell me, without her permission, that would betray her trust, but what you can tell me, is if she's reluctant to accept gifts due to that reason?"

"Somewhere in that area, yeah," Hermione nodded. This was nothing big, and Cassia wouldn't blame her for confirming Steve's guess, she knew.

"We guessed that would be the reason, but it's up to her to tell us when she's comfortable. However, what we can do, is try and get her used to the idea that she has more people willing to protect her and be there for her, and get her comfortable with accepting gifts too."

"Are you suggesting we buy her things?"

"Yeah. It's not as if we're short of money."

"She has very few things that mean a lot of her. I think it would best if you do that, but only every so often with things you think she'll really like- she'll appreciate it more. Cassia likes things she can attach sentimental value to."

Steve smiled and nodded. So many people simply wanted just the most up to date thing in whatever area they were interested in. Both Cassia and Hermione seemed to value the sentiment behind how they got something. As they approached the other two he wondered how they had come across the life lesson to learn that.

"I don't know much about the Fae, except that they exist, but I know a few things about dragons. We had to sneak a newly hatched one out of the cabin of Hagrid, the grounds keeper, in first year. He was obsessed with them and named his dragon Norbert. He was going to raise it there. In the wood cabin. Norbert was a Norwegian Ridgeback, one of several types of dragons."

"What parts of the myths about them are true?" Bucky asked.

"Well, they do fly and breathe fire, and they'll kill you pretty quick if you get too close."

"No damsel's in distress then?" He joked.

"Not where Cassia's concerned. She thought she could outfly one," Hermione said.

"I managed it didn't I? Besides, it was the only plan I had to get out of there alive."

This proved to be the wrong thing to say, as both Bucky and Steve tensed up. "Get out of there alive?" Bucky asked.

"Well, I was kind of in a tournament and one of the three tasks was to get a golden egg from a nesting mother dragon. I didn't know nearly enough magic, so I summoned my broom and outflew it to get the egg," She shrugged. "It worked."

"I get the feeling that's a part of a long story," Steve said.

"Yeah it kind of is. It's all sort of tied up in one big mess," Cassia shook her head. "Normality is not in my vocabulary apparently."

"No, it really isn't," Hermione said, smiling at her. "But that's often a good thing- have you seen how cute you are without the glamour?"

"Ha-ha." Cassia rolled her eyes.

Suddenly Steve's phone beeped and he pulled it out of his pocket and looked at the text. "I have to go- needed for a meeting," He looked up apologetically.

"Go on Steve, I'll keep these two out of trouble," Bucky said, smiling at him.

"And we'll keep him out of trouble," Hermione added.

"Thanks," Steve grinned. "He can get some pretty stupid ideas at times."

"Hey!" Bucky protested. "I wasn't the one who kept lying on my application form for the army!"

"And look where it got me! The food's much better now!"

"Go on you idiot, before you're late." Bucky muttered, shaking his head, trying to hide the smile and failing.

"It's been great seeing you again Buck I missed you. I'm glad you're alright," Steve said, pulling the shorter man into a tight bear hug, expressing the rest of what he couldn't say in that gesture.

Bucky returned the hug, reluctant to let go, knowing the dangers of the world, but also knowing Steve could take care of himself now- he didn't need Bucky to protect him anymore. "You too, Steve. I'll see you soon, yeah?"

"Yeah," Steve nodded, before lowering his voice. "Keep them safe Buck. I get the feeling they've been through too much already."

Bucky pulled back and nodded, his eyes solemn. He agreed wholeheartedly with Steve, and anyone trying to get to the girls would have to go through the Winter Soldier. "Take care, Steve."

"You too, Bucky."

Steve went one way, and Bucky, Hermione and Cassia went the other, neither of them asking what had been said so quietly that neither of them had heard. Whatever it was, it was between Bucky and Steve. Cassia took hold of Bucky's hand as they headed away from where Steve was heading. He had been noticeably different with the blonde man around, as if Steve had taken a weight from Bucky's shoulders, just by being there. Already, she could see that weight reappearing, as if it was being lowered back on as they put more distance between themselves and Steve. She couldn't imagine what it would be like, to lose Hermione, not even remember her, for so long, only doing as she was ordered, doing things that would probably make people baulk, and then having her memories returned suddenly, and then having to wait to see Hermione, and only seeing her for a short period. Cassia would hate it, so she resolved to be there for Bucky. Hermione saw Cassia's hero complex kick in, ready to help Bucky in any way she could. She simply took Cassia's free hand. Cassia would help Bucky for now, and she would help Cassia- both of them needed support. And she would make sure they got it.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing!

"We have a serious problem," Fury growled, to the gathered Avengers.

"Don't tell me," Tony drawled, "The Winter Soldier is in New York City."

"I see you've hacked our systems again," Fury growled, causing both Natasha and Clint to sit up straighter and tense. If he really was around, then this could be very serious.

"Why's he here? Do we have any idea what his mission is? His target?" Natasha asked. Most wouldn't see it, but those around the table could see the flash of panic in her eyes.

"Who is this Winter Soldier?" Thor asked. Anyone who made Natasha panic was a big enough threat to be concerned about in his book.

"Let's just calm down here," Steve said, trying to start an explanation.

"You missed the time he was around, Steve," Clint said. "The Soldier has been known to take down whole teams of highly trained operatives, without even a scratch."

"Most of his kills never even knew he was there, before he killed them," Natasha added in. "I saw him do it- after scouting the targets for him."

Steve turned to Tony. "I thought you were going to tell them."

"I was waiting for you."

"Tell us what?" Sif asked.

"If this isn't about the problem at hand-" Fury began.

"It is," Steve cut off. "Look, I know this sounds like a problem, but it's not. He's broken out of the mind control he was under while working for the Red Room."

"How do you know about that?" Natasha asked.

"Because he told me all about it. And Cassia was the one to break him out of it. Bucky was the Winter Soldier. There's no need to worry about anything. He's not a threat to anyone, unless someone attacks him or Hermione and Cassia or Dan and Emma."

Natasha was usually very collected and in control of her responses. To see her jaw drop was a very rare thing indeed, even for the Avengers, who she allowed herself to be more open around. "What?"

"We found out today when we went round. He had the metal arm and all," Tony said.

"How did I never know? He saw the names and he never said a thing!"

"He was being controlled at the time," Steve said. "The people in charge of the Red Room probably knew all about the names too, so they would have taken steps to hide it from you."

She massaged her forehead. "This is insane."

"Can you lot be normal for once? Do you know how much of a headache this is going to cause me? It's going to be a paperwork nightmare explaining that SHIELD went onto red alert for this guy and he turns out to be a non-threat," Fury said. "And let's not forget the Security Council. How the hell am I going to be able to explain you can trust his word? There are very few who know the truth about your bond. The majority of them are in this room. Hell, the council doesn't even know- so tell me how I'm supposed to tell them that you vetted him Cap?"

"Tell them that he's James Barnes and that we were friends growing up and that he was one of the Howling Commandoes. Tell them I know him well enough to tell if he's lying or telling the truth. I'm probably the only one who can, barring Natasha, who could probably tell between him now and him under control."

"Fine, and if they don't like it I'll tell them that Romanoff is meeting him to verify your story. Like you said, she should be able to tell the difference."

"Don't doubt that," Natasha responded dryly.

Fury turned and headed out of the room, muttering under his breath- something about needing a holiday- or retirement. "You could have warned me, Tony," Natasha said.

"I didn't know SHIELD would pick up on him, or that Fury would call us for a meeting. I thought it may have been best coming from Capsicle, since he's the one who knew him best."

"Seeing as he's not a threat we have to worry about, but actually very much on our side, I take it we do not have to worry so much about putting up some sort of guard to watch the hotel?" Loki asked.

"No, Bucky said he'd watch Cassia and Hermione. He still remembers, and can utilise, all his skills from his time as the Winter Soldier. That is so long as he doesn't upset Hermione's father who threatened to kill him, if he makes a wrong move."

"Ah crap, we have to worry about a protective father? What about Cassia's Uncle- is he going to be in the same boat?" Clint asked. "Because I think I might be able to deal with one, but not two."

Steve's features darkened. "I'm not sure he will be," he said through gritted teeth.

"Why, what happened?" Sif asked.

"I'm not one hundred percent certain, but let's just say I don't think she gets on with her family and leave it at that. It could have been someone else, or it could have been them, but I really don't think her uncle will be siding with Daniel Granger."

This had all of their undivided attention. He'd left no room for them to think that perhaps she hadn't been hurt- that she had was undoubted- it was just by who. They just needed to know the story.

* * *

It was later that night and Bucky and Dan were the only ones still awake in the suite. Bucky was pretending to be interested in the TV, his attention was elsewhere though, as he planned every single escape route in the hotel out, and what attacks would be best to use should wizards come looking for the girls.

Suddenly the TV was turned off, and he turned to look at Dan who had the remote in his hand. "We both know you aren't watching that. And I know what you're doing. You're planning out the best route to escape through should someone attack. Let me make things easy for you- only concentrate on Hermione and Cassia. I'll concentrate on protecting myself and Emma. I know if it comes to it, you'll make the call to keep those two out of harm's way, even if it means forgetting about Emma and I. You know my background, I'm capable of protecting my wife. If someone attacks, get Hermione and Cassia out, get them to Avenger's Tower and keep them safe. We'll join you at a later point."

Bucky wanted to protest, but he couldn't. The man sitting across from him was a soldier as well, and knew how to make a call like this. So he nodded. "Alright then, I promise that, if it comes to it, I'll get Hermione and Cassia out."

"Good, because I'm trusting you with my daughters- both of them. Anything happens to them, and you're a dead man."

Bucky smiled. "I'd take a bullet to ensure they were safe. As the Winter Soldier, I very rarely did anything geared to protection detail, but I know how to transfer the skills anyway. Anyone coming after them will regret it."

"Would it be easier for you to protect them if they were in the hotel?"

"It would depend."

"On what?"

"How much the building would be a hindrance to us or to the attacker? Considering what I've been told, if the witch or wizard is a pureblood, then the hotel would be an advantage, hell, the whole non-magical world would be. Half-bloods, perhaps less so. I'd have to wait and see, but there's a great potential that whoever they were, they'd have less ability to navigate a hotel like this."

"Then I'll talk to Emma, and see what we can do."

* * *

It was really late the next morning when Cassia woke up. That was strange for her because she usually woke up far earlier than anyone else. Years of waking up practically at the crack of dawn (especially at summer) to do the chores assigned to her by her aunt had ingrained an early alarm clock into her. So to wake up at ten was really strange for her. She stretched and felt the metal of Bucky's left arm tighten reflexively around her. She opened her eyes. He was still asleep, but Hermione wasn't. She was awake and smiling softly at her and Bucky from her position tucked under his right arm. He'd had more nightmares last night, and they'd woken up, hearing his moans and whimpers, even with the wall between them now. So, they had gone into his room, and tried to ease his nightmares. They had to wake him up, but when he had realised where he was and that they were the ones who were on either side of him, and their touches were gentle, and not harsh and uncaring, he calmed. They stayed with him again that night, their presence seemingly dispelling the nightmares. Either that, or he was aware they were there subconsciously, and they happened quietly this time, without him thrashing round.

"Morning," Cassia whispered.

"Morning," Hermione replied, just as quietly.

The covers had been thrown to the bottom of the bed some point in the night, probably because of the heat, and that was probably a good thing when they heard a knock from the door that led to the room they were meant to be sleeping in. They winced. That movement woke Bucky, just before there was a knock at his door, and it opened, to show Emma, fully dressed, and raising an eyebrow at them. She noticed quickly that all three were wearing clothes, even if for Bucky it was only sweat pants.

"You have separate rooms for a reason, you know," she said, dryly.

"In our defence, I was having nightmares, and the girls were only trying to help. Nothing happened," Bucky said, catching Hermione and Cassia by surprise. They hadn't expected him to admit it so openly to Emma.

She nodded. "I'm inclined to believe that. You should all get dressed. Girls, I thought we'd use the spa facilities. I've read up on some of the treatments, and they look really good. However, I'm afraid Dan and Bucky are going to need to fend for themselves for the day."

"Fine by me, Emma." He nodded, smiling. He guessed this was what Dan had in mind to try and keep the girls in the hotel until they headed for the tower. But Bucky wasn't sure that they would be able to stay inside for three days. None of them were the type to be cooped up for so long. Bucky could manage it, and longer, so long as he had the provisions to not need to leave, especially if it was a mission. He could treat this as a mission, but the girls wouldn't appreciate it. So, he would just have to focus on keeping them safe in other ways. Cassia and Hermione went back to their room, and when they were all dressed, they went down for breakfast in one of the dining rooms, and the girls headed for the spa.

When they found out which room they were in, and after looking them up, discovering that everything there had been paid for, for each of them, the therapists were eager to help, and Hermione, Cassia and Emma were led off by three different women.

"Are you stressed often?" Kathrine asked Cassia.

"I can be, yes," Cassia answered.

"In that case, I think we'll start you with a Signature Soak. This will last about twenty minutes, and it will be in a bath. A hydro-massage is a highly effective treatment. Come on, this way." Cassia found herself led to a room that was decorated in calm pastels, and held a bathtub which looked like a mini Jacuzzi. It was heaven. The water temperature was just right and the jets hit her with water at a pace that had her relaxing her muscles- not having known they were tense in the first place. This was followed by a foot massage, and then a back massage, before she had what Kathrine called a radiance facial, which lasted fifty minutes in itself. She was then treated to a 'Salt Glow' which was meant to help exfoliate her skin. Finally, she was given a manicure, where her previously uneven nails were trimmed and shaped, before being painted in a clear polish which dried to leave nothing but a shine on the nails. She went back to the reception area of the spa and was greeted by Emma and Hermione, already done and looking very relaxed. Cassia put her arm round Hermione's waist. "Did you enjoy?"

"It was great! One of the treatments I had was where they put heated stones on my back! My goodness it was amazing!" Hermione gushed, her eyes bright, drawing a laugh from Cassia.

"The first thing she did was put me in a bath! Do you think she was trying to tell me something?" Cassia joked.

The three left the spa exchanging experiences, but headed back on Emma's insistence that they get an appointment for a makeup lesson. They finally reached the room, and headed in to find Bucky, but no Dan. Bucky wasn't alone though, as Steve was there with him. They both looked up as they entered, cutting off all conversation, and gathering up the papers on the table.

"You look great!" Bucky said, grinning. "The spa must have been a good idea!"

"Remind me to thank Tony when I see him," Hermione said. "It was wonderful."

"So, are you going back if you enjoyed it?"

"Hermione and Cassia have another appointment tomorrow for the makeup lesson they give."

"I don't see why we need it," Hermione said, shaking her head.

"Because I heard about your attempts, and in the end your dorm mates gave up and did your make up for you, for that ball. It's time you learnt to do it for yourselves."

Both Bucky and Steve were trying not to laugh. "I'm glad you had fun," Steve said, focusing on not laughing. "And I'll pass on your thanks to Tony."  
"How did the meeting go yesterday, or can you not talk about it?" Cassia asked.

"It was fine. Some people just freaked out in the higher ups because they thought the Winter Soldier had been set loose in America. Tony and I assured them there was no need to worry. Everything's going to be fine."

"Well, that's good to know," Hermione said, smiling as she sat down.

"I also came over to say that a car will be here at midday in two days, to pick you up to come to the tower. The driver, Happy, will knock on the door. He used to be Tony's bodyguard, but he's now head of security at the Tower and still drives for Tony as well when needed."

"We could catch a cab," Bucky said.

"I did tell him you'd say that, but he insisted- and Happy won't listen to anyone but Tony and Pepper, and Pepper was out all day, so by the time she got back, the plan was all set."

"Midday, got it." Cassia said, nodding. That was going to be interesting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please review!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Theirs was one of the smaller organisations of traders in valuable creatures, but it was one with a very high success rate, and one that provided a service that the others didn’t. If a witch or wizard learned of a creature that was running free, and wanted that one, they could pay Muccino and his people an acceptable sum, and they would capture and train the creature to be an obedient pet for the buyer. They had the first half of the money, and the information on the creature, and now it was time to capture it. She was with a group of muggles and a muggleborn. How hard could it be?

Their customer was of the same opinion. And he was also waiting in anticipation. What better revenge on Potter than to enslave his precious daughter? And it would put the brat in her place. He had the gold, and the plan had been formed over the last few years. But now was the best time to implement it.

* * *

 

Cassia and Hermione had the makeup lesson, and were also now the owners of some of their own makeup. They were able to share some things, like eye shadow and eye liner, but things like foundation couldn’t be shared. She had been startled to find out that, with the use of concealer and foundation, she could hide the lightning bolt scar that was known throughout the wizarding world. Cassia determined then and there that she would at least wear concealer and foundation more often, to hide the damned thing, and she could still look natural while wearing that little amount of makeup.

She was very glad she could hide it on the day they were heading for Avengers Tower. That she could keep it hidden like all her other ones was a big plus. Hermione was currently fretting over what to wear, which was highly uncharacteristic of her. Her nerves were running rife, and this was the only way left to her to express them at the moment, Cassia understood. Her nerves were at the end of their tether too. But right now, they were still in the hotel room. And Hermione morphing into Lavender wasn’t helping. Cassia grabbed hold of Hermione by the shoulders.

“Mya, the dress you bought the other day is lovely,” She said.

Hermione’s eyes shot to the wardrobe and she nodded, her breathing slowing down as she nodded. “You’re right. I don’t know why I panicked.”

“Because you like to over analyse perhaps?” Cassia said with a smirk, before dodging Hermione’s playful hit. Hermione went to the wardrobe and pulled out the blue and white skater style dress and pulled it on. Cassia pulled out a black dress that had white butterfly patterns on it and the tag that called it a Tea Dress was pulled off, and she slipped on black sandals with it, while Hermione went for beige ballet flats. Cassia brushed Hermione’s hair, while using magic to tame it slightly, before tying it into a knot just below her right ear, a look which really suited Hermione. She had learnt long ago how to put hair up- there had been many times where her Aunt had wanted her to put hers up for her, so she didn’t have to spend money at a hairdressers, so Cassia had learnt. Hermione was also quite good at it, after taking a few lessons from Cassia, so she switched places with the dark haired girl and began to plait it in two before working it into a bun at the back of her head, so that her hair, except for her fringe, was entirely out of her face- a rare occurrence, as Hermione had many memories of Cassia pushing her hair out of her face in lessons and tucking it behind her ears, only to need to do it again five minutes later.

“Ladies, you look beautiful,” Bucky said as they entered. He owed both of them a debt. Not just for breaking him out of the conditioning, but also for being there, and supporting him through the time after. He was by no means recovered mentally from what had been done to him, but them being there meant he’d had something to focus on and use as a point of reference to begin to sort out the mess that was his mind. It would take an age, but he’d do it eventually. The girls being two of his and Steve’s soul mates was simply a bonus in his mind.

“You look quite handsome yourself,” Hermione responded, her eyes running over the white shirt and black jacket and dark jeans, and boots.

“Your parents ordered room service for breakfast today,” he said, offering both arms to them, and each of them accepted one and walked with him to the dining room, where breakfast had reached there before them.

Cassia forced herself to focus on the food and not think on where they were going later. That was scuppered pretty quickly when Emma spoke up.

“Dan and I decided we’d go out sightseeing while you three went to the tower,” she said.

Cassia and Hermione looked up. Both of them had been under the belief that Dan and Emma would be with them.

“You aren’t coming?” Cassia asked.

“No, this is something you need to do for yourselves. The first meeting between all of you is important, we don’t want to interfere,” Emma explained. Dan’s expression told them that he’d thought quite differently. He’d probably wanted to go, with a gun, to make sure nothing untoward happened there.

“It’ll be fine,” Bucky said. “Besides, you’ve already met Steve, and briefly Tony. Only eight more introductions wise.”

“What if something goes wrong?” Cassia asked, shifting nervously.

“It won’t, they’re going to love you. How could anyone in their right minds do anything else?” Emma said, smiling at her.

“And if they don’t, I can knock some sense into them- I pack quite a punch,” Bucky said, raising his left arm.

Hermione took hold of Cassia’s hand and squeezed. They would face this together, as they always faced things. And this time they also had Bucky on their side, and the way things had gone the last time they had spent time with him, they also had Steve.

* * *

 

“Well, that was odd,” Tony said, entering the penthouse and frowning.

“What was, Tony?” Thor asked, his voice a low rumble. None of them wanted anything going wrong today, but all of them had a gut feeling that _something_ was going to happen.

“I’m used to fans trying to jump one of us, but in the lobby someone jumped _Happy_. The guy did it from behind, yanked some of his hair and ran away. He was gone before anyone could catch him, just slipped into the crowds outside.”

“Why would anyone do that? It doesn’t make sense.” Bruce said, frowning, but something about it didn’t sit right with him.

“Some people are just nuts I suppose,” Tony shrugged.

“Something is not right about this,” Loki shook his head. “Something is going to happen.”

“Using Happy’s hair?” Tony asked dryly.

“Perhaps. We should be on our guard. Skin, hair and blood can all be used as parts of spells, rituals and potions. This could be a problem.”

“I didn’t know that. Alright, so we keep watch for anything else suspicious?”

“Until we know what he wanted the hair for, yes.”

“Alright then,” Tony nodded.

* * *

 

At ten to twelve, there was a knock on the door. Bucky was the one to answer it. The man on the other side was somewhere between average and tall, and he was thick set, but it was obviously all muscle. He was wearing a dark suit and had a receding hairline. He smiled at Bucky.

“Mr. Stark sent me.” He said, holding out his hand. “I’m Happy Hogun.”

“Bucky Barnes,” Bucky replied, shaking his offered hand. “Hermione, Cassia, our ride’s here.”

Emma pulled both girls into hugs, and so did Dan. “Take care, both of you,” Dan said.

“And have fun,” Emma added.

“We will,” both girls chorused.

The four of them headed for the door, but only Cassia, Hermione and Bucky left. It seemed like a quick walk, to the sleek black car that was waiting. Happy held the door open and the three of them got in and then Happy got into the front. Then, they were heading out.

* * *

 

Dan and Emma were leaving the room ten minutes later, when they saw Happy heading towards them. “Is anything wrong, Mr Hogun?” Emma asked.

He stopped. “How did you know who I was?”

“You were here ten minutes ago, picking up the girls and Bucky,” Dan said.

“No I wasn’t,” he said, frowning. “I only just got here.”

“Emma, do you remember that potion Hermione told us about? Polyjuice?”

“You don’t think?” Emma gasped.

“What is it? Has someone been imitating me?” Happy asked.

“There’s a potion that lets you turn into someone else, so long as you have something like their hair,” Emma explained.

“Shit! Someone grabbed some of mine earlier,” he said, pulling out his phone and calling someone. “Mr Stark, someone else got here before me. Apparently there’s a potion that can change a person to look like someone else exists- but they needed hair… it means that Mr Barnes, Miss Granger and Miss Potter are gone sir. Someone else is driving them, and I don’t know where.”

Dan was also pulling out his phone. Thankfully, Bucky had picked one up, and he had his number.

* * *

 

Bucky heard his phone going off and pulled it out of his pocket. “Dan?” He asked, after looking at the caller ID.

“Bucky, you are not with Happy Hogun, that’s an imposter- a wizard using polyjuice!” Dan said. “Get out of there!”

“Oh yeah, sure I remembered to bring it, wouldn’t leave without it,” he said, smiling, being sure to not raise suspicion from the driver. “Don’t worry Dan, I’ll be sure to pass it on. See you later.” He hung up and put the phone away.

Cassia and Hermione were looking at him strangely. He mouthed the word ‘Polyjuice’, just before the car stopped in traffic lights. He threw the door beside him open, lunged and grabbed both girls before using his legs to push the three of them back and out the open door. They landed on the road and he quickly got them to their feet, just in time to see the effects of the potion wear off and the man start to change appearance, as he yelled, pulling a wand.

“Run- Go!” He pulled them into motion and headed for the pavement, and then down, back the way they came, and into the first alley he found, knowing the wizard was in pursuit. He led them through several alleys, heading for a less populated area.

“What’s going on?” Cassia asked.

“The driver’s an imposter. I don’t know how Dan and Emma knew, the real Happy Hogun probably turned up to the room. Here!” With his left shoulder, he rammed into what looked like a fire door. It was grey and rusty, poorly maintained and obviously not used. The force he used bent it, and they found themselves in an abandoned building. They continued their running, through that building, and into another, where the wizard finally caught up.

“I just want the creature, you two can walk away from this unscathed,” the man said. He was pointing his wand right at them. Bucky moved in front of Cassia and Hermione, pulling them close behind them, before pulling off his jacket, revealing the shirt was short sleeved, showing off his metal arm. The wizard suddenly became far wearier of Bucky.

“So, you’ve heard of me? That’s good, because both of them are under my protection. You want Cassia? You’ll have to go through me. And I have taken out far more wizards at a time than just one.”

Something seemed to dawn on the wizard. “Then why did you run?”

Bucky smirked. “Do you think I’d want the cops coming down on me? I don’t want the attention drawn to me being here. I mean look how surprised you are.”

The fear came back to the wizards eyes at that, but he steeled himself. “I have a job to do. Get out of my way.”

Bucky rolled his shoulders. “Come and get her.” The moment the first spell was on the wizards’ lips, Bucky was in action, running at the man, his arm deflecting the curse, before he was on him, grabbing the wizards’ wand arm and twisting his wrist, snapping it- loudly. The man screamed and dropped his wand, and Bucky picked him up and threw him away, stepping on and snapping the wand.

Glass shattered from the sky light above them and a red and gold suit of armour followed through, landing on the ground between the wizard and Hermione and Cassia, both of whom had their own wands out, but had been letting Bucky deal with it. He seemed more than capable.

The visor lifted and Bucky saw Stark. “You have this under control, I see.”

“Yeah. What room did you upgrade us to?” He asked, wanting to verify this was actually Tony.

“The presidential suite.”

“Take the girls to the Tower, I’ll deal with this.”

“Bucky-” Cassia tried protesting.

“I don’t want you seeing this,” Bucky said, and in that moment all three of them saw the Winter Soldier shine through- still there, but thinking for himself.

Just then a red headed woman ran through. Her hair was completely straight and she was wearing jeans and a leather jacket, and her whole poise screamed lethal. “Natasha,” Tony greeted. “Would you show Bucky to the Tower when he’s done? I’ll get Cassia and Hermione there now.”

“Sure,” She nodded, her face not changing from impassive as she raised a hand to her ear. “Get back to the tower, we’ve found them.”

Tony approached the two witches. “Come on, we’re flying.” He wrapped an arm around both of them and the visor slid shut. Cassia and Hermione both wrapped their arms round him and he took off, heading straight into the air, and manoeuvring through the hole he’d already made in the skylight, going as fast as Cassia could on her firebolt. Hermione buried her head in his chest, trying not to scream, but Cassia laughed. She had always loved flying, since the first time she had been on a broom. It sent a rush of adrenaline through her and gave her a sense of freedom she had yet to come by anywhere else.

It didn’t take long for them to reach the tower this way and Tony landed on the smaller of the two landing pads, and motioned for Hermione and Cassia to go ahead of him. They realised why when they looked back to see machines efficiently removing the suit from him. He soon caught up to them. There were several pulls towards the glass doors in front of them, indicating they weren’t the first back.

“Come on, I’ll show you around and introduce you to the others.” He said, grinning.

Suddenly, a large blonde man with bright blue eyes and wearing a strange armour all but bounded out the glass doors towards them.

“Bear hug incoming,” Tony muttered.

Suddenly, he’d reached them and pulled both Cassia and Hermione into a hug that would exceed one of Hagrid’s. Cassia found herself crushed between a strong arm and the metal of his chest plate as he held onto them tightly.

“I am glad to see you are both safe and it is good to finally meet you!”

“Thor, buddy, I think you’re squashing them,” Tony said, but he was grinning, so he obviously wasn’t that concerned for them.

“Apologies,” Thor said, releasing them both. “I am Thor Odinson.”

“I’m Hermione Granger, this is Cassia Potter,” Hermione said for the both of them.

“Hello,” Cassia said, giving a slight wave, not knowing what to do after quite an enthusiastic greeting.

“It is an honour to finally meet you, my ladies.” He picked up Hermione’s hand and kissed it, and then repeated the gesture with Cassia.

“And you,” Cassia nodded, trying to contain the blush at the gesture.

“Come on, the others are inside,” Tony said, starting to sound impatient.

“What happened?” A dark haired woman asked, the moment they came though.

“It was just one wizard by the looks of it. He didn’t stand a chance against Bucky, but I left him with Natasha- she’ll make sure things go smoothly.”

“Very well,” her dark eyes turned to Cassia and Hermione and ran over them, assessing them for injuries, she seemed satisfied that they were unharmed. “I am Sif, which of you is Cassia and which is Hermione?”

“I’m Cassia, this is Hermione.”

“Welcome to the Tower,” she said, smiling, before gesturing to the tall man who was near her, who had black hair to his shoulders and flicked out and green eyes and pale skin. “This is Loki.”

He strode over to them and did the same thing as Thor by kissing them on the back of their hands. “It is a pleasure to finally meet you both.”

Next to approach them was a woman with strawberry blonde hair. “Hi, I’m Virginia, but everyone calls me Pepper. You’ll get used to the strangeness around here,” she said, smiling. “Jane, they’re here!”

“They’ve found them?” this was soon followed by a petite brunette woman heading out of a corridor, and she smiled at the two teenage witches. “Hi, I’m Jane.”

“Hermione, this is Cassia,” Hermione said again, wondering how many times they would have to introduce themselves. This would have been far easier to do all at once.

The elevator chimed and the doors opened to reveal Steve, with his shield and two others. One of them was another blonde man who had grey blue eyes and was shorter than Steve, but taller than the other man. He also held a bow in one hand and had a quiver of arrows over his back. The last man in the elevator had curly, brown hair and brown eyes and seemed to be trying to keep himself from doing something. It was the same reserved air that Remus had, as if he was afraid to hurt someone if he lost control.

Steve relaxed upon seeing them. “Are you two alright?”

“We’re fine Steve, thanks.” Hermione nodded. “Just a bit shaken.”

He nodded. “Bruce, Clint, these are Hermione and Cassia. Hermione, Cassia, these are Clint and Bruce.” He motioned to the archer and the man who had reminded her of Remus- the reason being was probably the Hulk. Cassia wondered if the Wolfsbane potion could help him keep control, perhaps then he would relax. She’d seen how hard things had affected Remus, after all.

Both men smiled. “Good to see you. If you’re hurt, I’m a doctor, I could help,” Bruce said.

“We’re fine, honestly,” Cassia replied, though she smiled at him to show the offer was appreciated.

“Good to know, but it’s a shame I didn’t get to shoot anyone,” Clint said, pretending to pout.

Pepper rolled her eyes as she pulled out her phone and called Happy. It was time to put Dan and Emma Granger at ease.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What did you think?


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing!

“Who sent you?” Bucky asked. The man was a bloody mess by now. Bucky had broken a few more bones but it had been the use of the knife that had broken the man, especially as he began using it to remove nails.

“Muccino!” The man cried out. “He runs a small trading ring!”

“Trading in what?”

“Creatures! I’m one of the searchers! I find them, take them back, they train them and sell them off to the highest bidder.”

“How did you know about Cassia?”

“Sometimes we get customers who know about a creature running free- and they want that one. For the right price, one of us will get sent out to catch it, and then the others will train it, and then the customer buys it, instead of it going to auction!”

“The customer’s name.” Bucky said, twisting the knife from where it was currently buried in the man’s hand.

“SNAPE! SEVERUS SNAPE! HE’S A BRITISH POTIONS MASTER! IT’S ALL I KNOW!”

The name rung a bell, so Cassia or Hermione must’ve mentioned him. Bucky slit the man’s throat. There was nothing else he needed from him.

“We need to tell the others,” Natasha said, “More could come.”

“Then let’s get back,” Bucky replied, wiping the blood off the knife on a patch of the man’s trouser leg, trying to ignore how similar this felt to the past when he and Natasha had worked for the Red Room, telling himself that this time, it was to protect someone he cared about.

* * *

 

It happened the moment that Natasha and Bucky stepped out of the elevator. There was a pulse of magic, and a flash of light, and everyone in the penthouse collapsed. Hermione opened her eyes to darkness, but could hear multiple voices around her issuing a cacophony of noise, but could see no one.

“Hello?” She called out.

Her voice was lost in the confusion of voices, but one thing pierced over the din- a terrifying scream of anger and hatred, followed by a second voice, crying out in pain. That one, she recognised. “CASSIA!” Hermione stood up and began running, her feet stumbling over the uneven ground she couldn’t make out that seemed to be trying to grab her ankles. She pushed on, being stubborn by nature, and eventually Cassia came into view, fighting against what looked to be a spirit made of black smoke. The whole thing radiated evil and it was trying to engulf Cassia, who was throwing spells at it. A silver stag rushed from her wand and collided with the spirit, dissipating it long enough for Hermione to reach Cassia, before it reformed, and Hermione saw something that terrified her- a trail of smoke coming from the spirit was attached to Cassia. She conjured up the memory of going to the Yule Ball with Cassia and cast the Patronus, and a silver otter bounded out, moving through the smoke and then through the spirit, again dispelling it, only for it to reform, but it was still attached to Cassia. By then, Jane and Pepper had reached them, and were trying to physically hit it, it worked, somewhat, but not as well as the spells did.

A green spell shot over their heads, dispelling the spirit for longer, and they looked behind them to see Loki. “It is the fragment of another’s soul. Someone willing to fracture their soul like that is truly evil.” He said, throwing out another spell as he approached them. He looked to Cassia. “Have you ever had a link to another?”

“Yes, the man who murdered my parents, Voldemort,” Cassia said, horrified. She was a Horcrux?

“Then it is a fragment of his soul, most likely. When the others get here, and they will, we three will allow our magic to take over- we will break the hold it has on you Cassia, and the others will attack the fragment and force it out, where it will dissipate permanently.”

“I thought we were forcing it out?” Cassia said as her stag charged the creature.

“If I am correct, then we are all unconscious. This is taking place in our minds. What we do will break the connection mentally, and the others will push it out into the physical world.”

“The other voices,” Hermione said.

“Would be the others, wondering what was going on. But they would have rallied themselves by now, as we have, to follow the sound of the commotion. He is not exactly quiet.”

The soul piece let out another scream, expressing his rage, before a bolt of lightning hit it out of nowhere. “You will cease your attacks, creature!” Thor roared, ready to attack again.

“We need to keep him busy until the others get here!” Loki said. “It cannot be destroyed until then!”

“Why not?”

“Because Cassia, Hermione and I will be occupied using our magic to break its connection to Cassia and so we need the rest of you to attack it and force it into the mortal world so it will be forced to dissipate.”

Tony was next, followed by Sif, then Natasha, Bucky, Steve, Bruce and finally Clint. Loki quickly explained what had to be done. Cassia closed her eyes and pulled on her magic, willing it to take over, and Hermione did the same, followed shortly by Loki.

Cassia began to glow purple, while Hermione began to glow red, and Loki, green. Their magic combined in Cassia and shot outwards, throwing back the spirit, with a loud SNAP! It rushed at them, but the others were waiting, and caught hold of it, dragging it away as if it was solid, Bruce changed into the Hulk, just as it began slipping away, stopping it, and lightning once again hit the spirit, dispelling it.

* * *

 

Cassia began to come round, feeling as if all her limbs were weighed down and as if there was someone drumming on the inside of her skull. Something warm and sticky was running down her forehead and cheek, and she reached up and felt a liquid of some sort. Opening her eyes, she saw red staining her fingertips, and it took her a moment to realise it was blood.

“Hey, how are you feeling?” Bruce asked coming into her line of sight. He had a damp cloth on his hand which he held out to her. Cassia took it and put it on her forehead, welcoming the small respite it gave her.

“My head feels ready to explode,” Cassia said. “How am I bleeding?”

“The soul piece must have been centred around your scar. When it was forced from you, it would have fought, and it opened up the wound.” Loki said, also coming into view. “Due to the fragment, you are the last to awaken.”

Cassia pushed herself up to see she had been laid out on a sofa, and the others had taken seats around the room. All were watching her anxiously, as if wondering if she was going to pass out again. But there was also something else- she could sense their minds at the edge of hers.

“What happened? I remember fighting the soul piece, but nothing else.”

“The bond seems to have activated itself,” Thor said. “Even though Sif and I do not use it, we have magic. Only Loki chose to act on his, however, it is still there for us. The three of us have been waiting centuries for all of us to be brought together, it was bound to do something.”

“Also, your own magic would have registered the foreign soul piece and would have wanted it gone. It is possible it reached out when it sensed we were all here, and able to help get rid of it, yours combined with ours, dragged us all into a spirit realm to deal with it. That also activated the bond between us all in order to aid the removal of the taint,” Loki further explained.

“Hey, does this mean that if something happens to one of us, the others could find them?” Clint asked.

“Basically, yes,” Sif said. “From what I know of bonds, being on another realm will not even weaken the link.”

“What about privacy?” Hermione asked.

“We should be able to build walls, but right now, we all seem to be at the edge of each other’s minds, so I think that, as long as we do not push, we will not see anything you do not wish us to see,” Loki said.

“Well, that’s good then,” Hermione said. Cassia could see she was trying to work out the mechanics of what had happened, so reached over and tugged on her arm, encouraging Hermione to come over and sit next to her, so she could lean against her.

“Is there anything leftover from your connection with the man who turned you into a Horcrux?” Loki asked.

“No,” Cassia said, knowing for certain the connection was (thankfully) gone. There was nothing left of it. “How do you know that term?”

“Because it is a form of magic that was outlawed by our father many years ago,” Thor said. “Anyone caught using a Horcrux is to be immediately executed. What I wish to know is, why did this wizard turn you into a Horcrux?”

“I don’t think he meant to. He’s been trying to kill me since I was one. He wouldn’t do that if he knew. The guy is obsessed with immortality. He’s possibly created six intentionally, two of which have already been destroyed. All but one were created before he first tried to kill me, and when he killed my parents, so the soul piece must have latched on then, when I got my scar,” she gestured to the cloth which now hid said scar.

“Is he still trying to kill you?” Clint asked.

“As long as one of us is alive- yeah,” she nodded.

“Was he the one who was impersonating Happy?” Pepper asked.

Both Hermione and Cassia burst out laughing, which confused all of them, even Bucky who knew it wasn’t him. “I’m sorry,” Hermione said, “But the idea of that bastard disguising himself as anyone else… he has too big an ego.”

“You should hear the monologues he can come out with when he thinks he’s won. They’re cringe worthy,” Cassia added. “The guy is a certified nut job, but he wouldn’t use polyjuice. He’s too high and mighty for it- and the way he views non magical people, well, he’d rather kill himself- and that’s saying something.”

“Could it be someone who works for him?” Sif suggested.

“No, I got answers from him,” Bucky said. “He called himself a trader- in valuable creatures,” his voice was a snarl. “He worked for an organization that offered the service to catch specific Neko’s and whatever others are on the list, and train them for the customer.”

“How did they know about Cassia? We’ve only known since her birthday!” Hermione said.

“He said the customer was a man named Severus Snape, I take it you know him?” Both girls had reacted to the name Natasha had given, both of them looking like they could rip apart the owner of the name.

“He’s a spy, but no one’s quite sure for what side. Dumbledore says his, but he could be on Voldemort’s. How he knows is a mystery,” Cassia answered. “But if one group knows, and found me, how long until others do?”

“I’d like to see them try anything,” Bucky said.

“This government of yours sounds pretty corrupt,” Tony said, “allowing slavery.”

Hermione snorted. “That’s one way to put it I suppose. They’re stuck in the medieval period for most things. They like to stay still. But if anyone but Snape knows, and the Ministry catches wind of this, it’ll be a full on man-hunt.”

Thunder rumbled and the sky darkened. “Then the wizards have made their stance clear,” Thor said. “They are against us.”

“Whoa, cool down there, Thor, have you forgotten that Hermione is a witch too? There are bound to be others like her who are against this. Don’t go on a smiting spree until we can determine where the next threat is coming from,” Bruce reasoned calmly.

“Bruce is right. I’m what’s classed as a ‘muggleborn’- someone with magic, born to non-magical parents. I haven’t grown up with the same prejudices some of the ‘purebloods’ have, and there are many others in the same position as I am. As for the purebloods, well, there are some, such as Cassia’s father and godfather, who were against the slavery too- or James would have just handed Lily over to slavers in a heartbeat.”

“Miss Granger is right,” a voice said. They all turned, ready to fight, to see a goblin standing not far behind where Cassia was sat. “The late Lord Potter is one of a few who have always treated magical creatures with equality. His family have done so for centuries, with a few exceptions. It is why the Potter family is one of the most valued customers within Gringotts Bank, especially adding in the substantial fortune.”

“Ragnok,” Loki said, cautiously. “Why are you here?”

“Gringotts became aware of certain fraudulent activities towards the Potter accounts. We had just finished piecing together what’s been happening when we registered the activation of a very large bond- and you can be sure the ministry in this country and in Britain will have registered it too, along with many others around the world, creature and magical human alike,” he said. “And as I have already said, the Potters have been valued customers for centuries- I have handled the accounts for the last three generations, not counting Lady Cassia. So I came myself for two reasons, the first to congratulate you all on completing the bond- you’ll need it. The second, to explain to the new head of the Potter estate about the meddling that has been taking place in her accounts.”

“This headache’s about to get bigger, isn’t it?” Cassia groaned.

The goblin grinned. “It may be an idea to take a pain relief potion,” he said.

“I will go get one,” Loki sighed, before striding off to his room.

“He has pain relief potions?” Hermione asked.

Tony grinned. “We can get ourselves into quite the state sometimes,” he shrugged as if he could care less.

“Someone has to have something,” Jane said, “Pepper and I knew that much, so we got in what we could, non-magic wise, and Loki brought the rest.”

“So, she’s a Neko, what are you?” Tony asked.

Thor and Sif sighed, and Sif ran a hand over her eyes. “Well done, Anthony,” she said, dryly.

“What?”

“Other Goblins would have killed you for that remark. As it is, if you are brash again I will not hesitate,” Ragnok said.

“Try it,” Natasha said. “I’m sure your brains would splatter at a gunshot wound, just as well as a humans would.”

“Can we not threaten to kill each other? Apparently someone’s been stealing from me, I want to know who and why,” Cassia said. “And if this day can get any bloody stranger. My life’s an unusual mess as it is.” The last part was muttered, hardly heard by anyone but Hermione who smiled at her sympathetically.

Loki returned with the potion and handed it to her. She downed it in one, ignoring the awful taste, remembering the many potions Madam Pomfrey had given her over the years, which had tasted just as bad, if not worse.

“Well then, to business,” Ragnok said, once Cassia had taken the potion and the headache began to ebb away. This day was about to get stranger- something she hadn’t thought possible upon first awakening. The arrival of the goblin had very much turned that idea on its head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What did you think?


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing!

“The matter first came to our attention at the death of your godfather, Lord Black, whose will reading you did not attend. After some investigation, we found the missive that had been sent out to you, informing you of the reading had been intercepted before it could reach you, as had all other correspondence the bank sent out to you- and all by the same person. Albus Dumbledore has been claiming to be your magical guardian, and without the Potter Will, there was no one to dispute that.”

“My parents have a will?”

“They did, but it strangely vanished before it could be read. No doubt, Dumbledore was behind this too. How else would he be able to move so effortlessly into the role of your guardian? Upon the discovery that you had received nothing from us, no statements and no requests for your opinion on financial matters, we were forced to begin an audit of your accounts- in fact, the entirety of your inheritance seemed unsafe after this. While you had heard nothing from us, we had been receiving permission from your legal guardian for money to be taken for reasons that now seem highly suspect. Charitable donations to an organization known as the Order of the Phoenix, a high monthly stipend paid to Dumbledore himself (far more than is normal for someone in the position of Magical Guardian for an orphan of a member of a Most Ancient and Noble House). There was also the high amount paid to your Aunt and Uncle to look after you, none of which appear to have been spent on you, if their own Bank Statements are correct. There are also payments that have been made to one Molly Weasley for taking care of you each summer, for the full summer, since the summer just before your second year of Hogwarts, even continuing this summer. Various other withdrawals from your trust account has also been made by Mrs Weasley and the _esteemed_ Headmaster,” Ragnok said, passing over a sheet of parchment to her.

Cassia looked it over and noticed some things she knew Mrs Weasley had bought for her, such as school supplies before her fourth and fifth year, but the rest were things she had no knowledge of. They were various things for Molly herself, and her family, but which Weasleys were in the know on this? She saw half of the money Mrs. Weasley withdrew went into a vault under her name. Was that to keep it secret from others in the family? Were the rest of them in the dark on this? She hoped so.

She knew nothing about anything that Dumbledore was paying for. There were robes, trinkets, and holidays listed as what he had used the money for, even some being sent to other people’s vaults, with apparently no reason.

“Who are the people that Dumbledore gave money to?”

“Various members of the Wizengamot. Most likely, they’re bribes, used to help sway votes in Dumbledore’s favour when passing one new law or another. He has also been voting in proxy for you, something we did not know until we began our investigation. He’s been using your seat, as well as his and the Black family seat, to pass laws he likes. He may portray himself as someone who wants equality for all beings, but his actions in the Wizengamot show the lie for what it is. He helps uphold Pureblood Bigotry. Using your family seat he has even been able to pass laws to add more creatures to the list of those that can be enslaved, and keep Neko’s on said list.”

“You said he added some?” Cassia was feeling ill. He had used her family name to pass those laws?

“Most recently, the day before your birthday, the Wizengamot passed a new legislation act, one which stated that Mermaids, Unicorns and Werewolves were to be added to the list,” the goblin looked tired. “Soon after, other countries started following suit. Soon, I fear, the whole world will take after them. More creatures means more business.”

“Moony,” Cassia breathed.

Hermione took her hand. “He’ll be fine. Remus is smart, he’ll have seen it coming and gotten out in time, you’ll see.”

“Aye, Mr Lupin saw it coming. He’s hiding in Gringotts’ London Branch currently. The Wizards wouldn’t dare attack us, we have all their gold. We have a chokehold on them that keeps us safe at least.”

“Thank you!” Cassia said, her whole body sagging with relief. The movement had the Avengers, Pepper and Jane wondering who this Remus Lupin was to have inspired such worry in the two youngest.

“Also, even though he has not yet become a target of the legislation, and neither has any others of his kind, Rubeus Hagrid has also been given sanctuary, in the rooms next to Mr Lupin. As for the money stolen, we have recovered it all, with interest, and have also frozen your two seats as of your seventeenth, informing the Wizengamot, and locked down all Potter and Black properties, as you are the heir to both families.”

“Thank you,” Cassia said, a bit stunned.

“Right, what can we do to make them really pay for this? I’m willing to help,” Tony said.

“Hell yeah, count me in!” Clint said. He moved quickly from his spot and literally _perched_ on the back of the sofa, in-between the two young witches. It made all of them wonder if Hawkeye referred to more than just his eyesight. “If there are anyone you need taken out, I can do that.”

“Unfortunately, you’d need to take out the majority of the Wizengamot to get anywhere. That would take time. Time you do not currently have,” Ragnok said, as he handed over a ledger to Cassia, containing a full record of her fortune and properties.

“What do you mean?” Jane asked.

“Dumbledore cannot find Lady Potter right now. No one can. There are many within the Wizarding World itching to control her. The Potter name in itself holds large backing. Add in everything else, and Cassia Potter is seen as the key to opening a lot of doors- especially her fortune.”

“Why the hell is all this happening to me? Isn’t it a bit surreal? Even for the magical world?”

“Unfortunately, they seem to love working to the absurd,” the goblin drawled. “Dumbledore recently suggested passing a law that would see all unmarried lords and ladies with property and money in the wizarding world married to someone the _esteemed_ body of witches and wizards deems appropriate. No doubt he already has a suitor for you in mind. It would even bypass activated bonds, as you never said any vows-”

“Whoa wait a second- do you mean to say this bond thing means we’re married?” Bruce asked incredulously.

“Normally activating the bond takes specific, informed and consented, actions, before it reaches the point we unintentionally reached today,” Loki said. “We never thought it necessary to explain the ins and outs of the fully activated bond as we thought we would need to make conscious decisions- which would need all of us anyway- we were waiting to be brought together, all of us, to explain the whole thing. Our magic sped up the process all on its own, it seems.”

“But yes, in the view of the other realms, and the magical world here, we are married. We had not the chance to fully explain that yet, as Loki said,” Sif continued.

“However, the wizards are capable of ignoring this to do things that would favour them,” Ragnok told them, anxious to continue. “They have taken the view that, unless you have married in the traditional, pureblood ceremony, then you will not be viewed as married to them, at least in Britain.”

“Is the law going to pass?” Thor asked.

“By the looks of things, yes, even if Lady Cassia uses her two seats. I do have a suggestion.”

“What?” Cassia asked. She could focus on the fact that she was technically married later. She had to get out of this situation first.

“They tried something like this before, years ago, and a Lord Greenwich decided to go to the current King of England for help, donating all his lands and money to the crown, only to have them restored to him under a muggle lordship that was equal to his position in the wizarding world. Since then, the British Monarchy has held a policy that should any Lord or Lady of the Wizarding World wish to do the same, and donate their wealth to the non-magical economy by moving it into a muggle bank, then they would do so for them.”

“But, why tell me this? Wouldn’t it be detrimental to Gringotts if I did this?”

“Yes, in the short term, but we could recover easily. The wizards however, would be gutted at losing such a prominent family. You hold stocks in many wizarding companies, and back a fair few too- many places would fall through- Wizarding Britain would start to, economically, decline.”

“Basically, revenge for whatever the hell they’ve done to Cassia, plus some for all the other people they’ve hurt or killed?” Natasha asked.

“We goblins could recover, the wizards, not so much. We hate what the wizards have done to our fellow magical creatures. Let’s get some form of revenge, eh, Lady Potter?”

Cassia decided then and there that she really liked this goblin. He was willing to take quite a loss, in order to ensure those who had hurt his people in the past, and others who were potentially allies to him in the present, were hurt in turn. This would place her squarely against all wizards, but after learning what she had about what they would do to her, what some had done to her, and the attack earlier, she was ready to rip them a new one in any way possible.

“Alright, how do I do this?” Cassia asked.

“If you write and sign a letter explaining the situation to the Queen and that you are donating your lands to the crown, I will ensure it reaches her, and only her. She will do the rest. I suggest that you supply her with a way of contacting you.”

“Do you have an email account?” Tony asked.

“No,” Cassia said, frowning. She had an idea about email, and new she needed a computer for it, but wasn’t really sure about how to use it, or get an account.

“Right, start writing that letter, I’ll set you up an account and you can put that in at the end,” Tony said, picking up a thin metal square.

 _‘It’s a StarkPad. A computer in even smaller form. There are quite a few different tablets out there, not just ones made by Stark Industries,’_ Hermione told her over the bond. Cassia looked at Hermione and smiled, not surprised she had figured out how to send her thoughts to Cassia that quickly. She was really grateful Hermione had been able to keep up with the Muggle World.

Loki’s anger was simmering as he conjured paper and a pen and handed them to Cassia. They were taking this in such a way it demonstrated that both Hermione and Cassia were used to being in danger and being attacked. Both were only seventeen- far too young to be so used to such attacks. Even the earlier attack and attempted kidnapping had not really shaken them. Something had to be done about this. Their calm demeanour expressed an experience that only came with multiple threats- that they knew were still out there. Concentrating on the others, he got an affirmative that they would be doing all they could to remove these threats, and keep Cassia and Hermione out of any more danger, and Jane and Pepper both agreed to do what they could to keep them out of trouble while the threat was dealt with.

After Ragnok had left, it was time to consult the other issue at hand. “So, what’s with this whole bond thing now?” Clint asked.

“Oh my parents are going to go nuts,” Hermione groaned.

“It is only within the other realms and to those with magic who consider he bond a marriage,” Loki pointed out. “Here within the non-magical society of Midgard we are not married. In fact, I believe it is illegal?”

Tony snorted. “The press would have a field day.”

Cassia groaned. “The press. Not more Skeeters!”

“Skeeters? Is that a magical term?” Jane asked.

“Rita Skeeter is a reporter in Britain who is known for taking a few small facts and not only blowing them out of proportion but also adding complete falsities to them too. However, the general wizarding public eats it up, believing every word. The more scandalous the better. Cassia is one of her favourite subjects to write about.”

“So are you,” Cassia added to Hermione. “But I can’t stand he vile woman. Or anyone like her.”

“Don’t worry, we’re good at keeping our private lives just that- private,” Pepper said. “There’s a whole host of lawyers ready and waiting to handle any law suits needed- and they can probably tear shreds out of any lawyer a news firm could hire.”

“No one knows we have each other’s names on our wrists,” Natasha said. “We can come up with a cover story for the three of you being here. People _will_ notice you’re here, so we’ll need something to give them to get them to back off, and satisfy their curiosity, but that’s easily arranged.”

“Possibly something close to the truth, we’ll think of something, it doesn’t have to be done right now,” Bruce added.

“What about the bond though? How are we going to deal with it?” Cassia asked.

“We can keep out of each other’s heads relatively easily it seems, and it’s like Loki said, here we aren’t married. I don’t think right now there’s anything to deal with,” Tony said.

“He’s right,” Jane nodded. “And it’ll help, especially if something like earlier happens again- it’ll make it easier to find whoever’s in trouble.”

“Missions can get dangerous,” Bruce agreed. “It would be good to be able to track each other down.”

“Merlin knows we’ve gotten into our fair share of trouble over the years. It will be good knowing there’s going to be the chance of help arriving before we get ourselves nearly killed- again.” Hermione said.

“About that- we’re going to need at least a good idea of all the threats you’ve faced, especially if there’s a chance that they’ll come after you again, like this Voldemort guy- and the one stealing from you. We need to know in order to be able to help,” Clint said.

“You gave me a brief outline, but Clint is right, we need more,” Bucky spoke up. “That sort of information isn’t going to be enough in the long run.”

“You can also rest assured that nothing you confide to us will be told to anyone else without your permission,” Sif said. “You can trust us.”

Cassia and Hermione exchanged a look. This was a lot to explain and it had been a part of their lives for so long it would be hard to explain to people who had not been there through it? But they both silently agreed it was necessary. “Alright,” Cassia said, “I suppose it all started before Hermione and I were even born. A civil war had broken out in the British Wizarding community.”


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing!

The first war was quickly covered, even including the prophecy that led Voldemort to the Potter’s on that fateful night. They explained about the bigotry and pureblood dogma that the Death Eaters promoted and terrorised people to support. Then, they explained the ministries weak response and the slightly more tangible response of the Order of the Phoenix (all of which they had researched through their time in Hogwarts preparing for the coming war.) Then, it was onto their Hogwarts years.

“Hermione and I met on the train- neither of us had any clue about magic until we got our letters. My relatives were… afraid of magic, so kept it from me, and tried to keep me from Hogwarts too. It didn’t stop me going. We both knew who the other was to us when we introduced ourselves,” Cassia said, reaching out and grasping Hermione’s hand.

“We never told anyone, we didn’t know how they would take it, not until our fourth year at least, which was a good thing because it kept a lot of people guessing,” Hermione added. “And plus Ronald who had attached himself like a limpet to Cassia didn’t get on with me until Halloween of first year when he almost got me killed by a troll- you know, I still haven’t had an apology for that.”

“A troll?” Thor asked, eyes narrowed. “As in a mountain troll? Or a cave troll?”

“Mountain troll, thankfully,” Hermione answered.

“What’s the difference?” Jane asked.

“Cave trolls are smarter. They can at least learn other languages and reason things out. Mountain Trolls- not so much. It was surprised by Cassia jumping up on its back and sticking her wand up its nose, allowing Ron to levitate its club and drop it on the troll’s head. He seemed to think it was enough of an apology- I wouldn’t have been in the girl’s bathroom if it wasn’t for him.”

“That’s true. But anyway, he was more tolerable towards you after that. He was with us when we figured out that Voldemort was after the Philosopher’s Stone, which had been hidden in Hogwarts, conveniently enough just before we started school.”

“Considering the traps set around it to protect it were beaten by three first years, it really was a flaky protection system- at best.”

“At worst, it was a set up,” Clint summed up, his hand itching for an arrow- and he wasn’t the only one who wanted to reach for their weapon.

“Pretty much what we thought,” Cassia confirmed. “It also turned out that Voldemort wasn’t dead, as everyone believed, but was possessing our defence teacher of that year. He was sticking out of the back of Quirrel’s head. And then there was the Basilisk in second year- Dumbledore had to have known that it was a basilisk- especially if he’s as powerful as he’s supposed to be.”

“You have fought a basilisk? The two of you?” Sif was stunned. “How old were you when this happened?”

“Twelve and thirteen- but I didn’t fight it- Cassia was relatively alone in that. I had been petrified by it earlier in the year.”

“Just after figuring out what it was. Well done on that by the way.”

“Thank you.”

“Whoa, what’s a basilisk?” Pepper asked, terrified of knowing.

“It is a giant serpent that would struggle to fit in this room and can kill if you look it in the eyes. There is also no known cure for from its venom,” Thor supplied. “Taking down a beast such as that is a feat that has proven fatal to even the greatest of warriors.”

“Actually, phoenix tears can cure someone poisoned by it,” Cassia supplied. “And you’ll only be petrified if you see say, a reflection of its eyes, or see it through something like a camera lens.”

“And yes, she does know that through experience,” Hermione sounded exasperated.

Cassia shrugged. “Not my fault a murderous raving lunatic set the damned thing on me.”

“Wait- what murderous lunatic? There’s another one?” Jane was beginning to regret listening to this. The two teenage witches were going to provide even more stress for her and Pepper than the Avengers already provided. Were they the only normal ones in the group?

“Nope, this was the memory of a young Tom Riddle, who later grew up and created an alias for himself- Voldemort.”

“How could a memory do that much damage?” Loki asked, leaning forward. There was more to this than met the eye.

“Well, it was preserved in a diary, which we later discovered (last year in fact) was one of his Horcruxes.”

“Ah, I see. We will need to find and destroy those.”

“Later, I want to hear more of this first. It’s getting more dangerous by the year. What’s next- dragons?” Clint asked.

“No that’s fourth year. Third year was soul sucking Dementors and finding out that Cassia and her parents had been betrayed.”

“I hate Dementors.” Sif said darkly.

“So do I,” Cassia agreed.

“They suck out your soul?” Bruce asked wearily, his brown eyes flecked worryingly with green.

“First they drain you of every happy memory, bringing to the forefront of your mind the very worst of your memories, and then, if given the chance, they will suck your soul out and leave you as an emotionless husk,” Hermione nodded.

Cassia’s face was dark. “I don’t know what would be worse- the end state or the memories they pull forward.”

“What do they make you remember?” Steve asked gently.

“The night Voldemort murdered my parents. And every other time I’ve met the bastard.”

“Ok, Dementors equal kill on sight,” Tony said.

“If you can see them. With the bond, you may be able to, but because you do not have magic, there is the chance you will not be able to,” Thor informed him.

“Just look out for the sudden loss of light and warmth and the sudden feeling as if you’ll never be happy again and you’ll have a good idea what’s coming- if you see a tatty cloak wearing figure, you know for sure.”

“Thank you for that vivid picture Hermione.”

“No problem Tony.”

“The sarcasm is strong in this one,” Clint drawled from where he was still perched.

“I get it from Cassia.”

“Hey!”

Hermione maturely stuck her tongue out at the Neko. “But Hermione’s right, a high security prisoner called Sirius Black had escaped Azkaban. Everyone believed he’d betrayed my parents, but it turns out my godfather was innocent. It was another old friend of theirs, Peter Pettigrew, who had betrayed them. We managed to get Sirius out of being kissed by a Dementor.”

“Illegally!” Hermione chimed in.

“Yeah, he was on the run up until the end of our fifth year when his crazy cousin, Bellatrix LeStrange killed him. But, anyway, fourth year was this insane tournament where I was forced to compete- Voldemort was responsible. The first task had me trying to get a golden egg from a nesting mother dragon. The second had me and the other champions rescuing hostages from the bottom of a lake. For some reason the judges thought Ron would be the person I’d miss the most, when everyone at that point knew Hermione and I were dating. I’m pretty sure they were trying to get us to stop seeing each other,” Cassia snorted. “That was never going to work. The final task was an enchanted maze. The first person to reach the trophy at the centre won. Except it was a trap.”

“Voldemort?” Pepper sighed.

“Yep. We had this teacher, an ex Auror, who happened to be an imposter using polyjuice- the same thing the wizard earlier used. He was a spy for his master and well, Voldemort killed a friend of ours, well, he had Pettigrew kill him, and then used this ritual which included my blood to regain his proper body. He should have stayed as the ugly baby. He looked better.”

“Then in fifth year, everyone believed you were a delusional murderer and you had killed Cedric and was blaming it on Voldemort- everyone believed he was dead. We had a ministry flunky that year to teach us Defence against the Dark Arts. She happened to like torturing students,” Hermione’s eyes were narrowed.

“Her preferred method was the use of the blood quill. It doesn’t use ink. You write with it, and the words carve themselves into the back of your hand while red writing appears on the paper. Writing lines became an awful detention past time.”

“What happened to her?” Natasha asked, leaning forward.

“We led her out into the forbidden forest. Got her carried off by a herd of centaurs. Hermione’s idea. They didn’t take well to her calling them Half-Breeds. They’re all very proud. She was never the same after Dumbledore retrieved her. Not while we still saw her. All through the year, I’d been seeing into Voldemort’s head, and feeling strong emotions from him- it wasn’t pretty. That was the Horcrux, of course I didn’t know it at the time, but he became aware of the connection. He wanted what we believed was a weapon in the Department of Mysteries. So he fed me a false vision of him being in the department of mysteries and torturing Sirius. After Umbridge had been carried away by the herd, we and a few others went to rescue him. I’d tried contacting him, but got no response, and everything pointed to the vision being real. In the end, it got Sirius killed, almost got us killed, and smashed the prophecy, which was what Voldemort was after. Last year, Dumbledore finally began to teach me about the Horcruxes. Voldemort likes things of historical value to the wizarding world, or to him. Artefacts belonging to the four founders of Hogwarts, his mother’s family heirlooms, his pet snake. Oh and Dumbledore almost got killed when we went looking for Slytherin’s locket. Voldemort had a whole army of inferi guarding the thing and it turned out to be a fake in the basin filled with lethal potion that he drank to get to it. It was substituted by someone called R.A.B. Nothing else has been figured out yet.”

“Holy shit,” Tony said. “The fuck sort of school did you go to?”

“Hogwarts,” the two answered in union.

“Apart from discovering my creature heritage on my birthday and finding Bucky, oh and what happened earlier, nothing else has happened that we know of. You just heard all of what Ragnok said, so you know about as much as we do now,” Cassia said.

“Why do I get the feeling we just experienced the extremely edited version of events?” Pepper sighed.

“Because you did. We’d probably have been here for days telling you everything in minute detail, but if we remember anything else important, we’ll tell you,” Hermione said.

“Damn that’s a lot to go through. And none of this was checked out by your police?” Bruce asked.

“The wizarding world has Aurors, and no, it wasn’t. Most of it was just swept under the rug and left at that. Cassia has vacillated between being the saviour of the wizarding world and complete attention seeking nut job in the eyes of the wizarding world for years. Either way, they don’t seem to think there’s anything worth investigating,” Hermione answered.

“I am going to guess that Dumbledore may have had a large hand in that?” Loki asked.

“Probably. He is, after all, head of the Wizengamot, and the International Confederation of Wizards. I mean, he was able to leave me on the doorstep of my Aunt and Uncle’s house wrapped only in a blanket with a note pinned to it, explaining the situation to my relatives and no court ever contested my placement there.”

“At least tell me it was a warm night,” Jane groaned.

“November first, so I doubt it.”

“So, let’s sum this up, we have a bunch of homicidal maniacs, a manipulative and thieving son of a bitch with a superiority complex the size of the planet, and a society that will quite happily support Cassia and anyone like her being enslaved?” Tony asked.

“Yeah that’s the gist of it,” Hermione responded.

“You got that apartment sorted, right?” Clint asked.

“Of course I did,” Tony answered, before looking at the two witches. “On the floor below us is another apartment that’s been set up for you and your parents,” his eyes flicked to Hermione, “with the attack earlier and the multiple threats, I’m pretty sure we’d all be a bit more relaxed knowing that was where you were staying. It’s up to you though. Of course there’s also a room ready for Bucky as well, but I don’t really anticipate his parents pitching some sort of fit.”

Bucky burst out laughing. “If they did, I’d be worried.”

“With everything we know, ghosts are highly possible,” Steve said.

“Hogwarts has tons of them,” Cassia chimed in.

“I wasn’t expecting that as a response, but alright,” Bucky shrugged. He looked at the girls. “What do you want to do? This place is far safer than the hotel, and it was a close call earlier. In a way, it’ll be like living in an apartment block.”

 _That’s_ _not too bad,_ Cassia thought to Hermione who nodded.

“My parents should be alright with moving here after earlier. But if we’re going to be staying for a while then we need to think about how to get Crookshanks and Hedwig over here.”

“Who and what now?” Pepper asked, an eyebrow raising at the strange names.

“Hermione’s cat Crookshanks and my owl, Hedwig.”

“You weren’t kidding about the owl post thing, huh?” Steve asked.

“Not one bit,” Cassia said.

“If that owl’s just for mail, do you need it?” Tony asked.

“ _That owl_ was both my first present and my second friend. I’m not leaving her behind.”

“Ok,” Tony said, raising his hands, but latching on to the comment.

“Sorry about him, he doesn’t always think before he speaks,” Pepper said, sending a glare at Tony.

“Yeah, we know the type,” Cassia smiled.

* * *

 

A few hours later, all the things the Granger Party had brought to New York was in the apartment below the penthouse. Dan had been satisfied with the girls being on a different floor to the others and him and Emma staying with them, so he was easily convinced with the multiple threats in mind.

JARVIS was handling arrangements to have Hedwig and Crookshanks brought over from the places where the Grangers had had them placed to keep them safe and fed while they were away. Emma and Dan were currently discussing selling their practice, and making the move to New York a permanent one. With the contacts and influence several of the team had, it would be easier to get the needed visas, and it seemed they already had a place to stay, so things were easy on that front.

It had been Natasha and Pepper who had come down to talk to them about that particular issue. “It may be an idea, once the transfer of lands and property has gone through, for you two at least to get a permanent visa to stay here, or at least something that means you won’t be deported,” Pepper said. “The nightmare that the others might become trying to keep an eye on you if you went back to Britain permanently would be quite large.”

“If needed I can file for you to be under SHIELD protection, meaning any and all files about you would become classified and there would be a guard keeping an eye on things when you weren’t in the tower,” Natasha added. “They won’t interfere with your life, but they would be there to step in if needed. Given the circumstances, Director Fury may push to get you some form of Diplomatic immunity, depending how the situation pans out. I was briefed yesterday on the existence of the magical world, not as thoroughly as what I learnt earlier, but I knew there was prejudice, but thought it was limited towards those without magic. As such, SHIELD is rather… on edge around them. I’m sure Fury’s just itching for an excuse to bring them in line. He gave off that impression anyway.”

“When did things get this complex?” Emma sighed. “Do they really need a bodyguard?”

“After what happened earlier, we just want to air on the side of caution. Like I said, no one needs to know the agents assigned to the post would be there. Unless something happened, they wouldn’t step in.”

“I’ve been under guard before. I got attacked by Dementors and almost had my wand snapped for defending myself,” Cassia said.

“Whoever was at the post must have been incompetent. They’d never have made it as a secretary in SHIELD,” Natasha told her. “There’d be absolutely nothing to worry about if someone was assigned to you. They’d only step in if needed.”

“It’s something to think about,” Pepper said. “Like Natasha said, they’d be inconspicuous and it beats having Tony hire someone who’d end up having to live here.”

“We’ll think about it,” Hermione replied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please review and tell me what you think!


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Things began to fall into a routine as the group got to know each other and settle in. Hermione had quickly joined Jane, Bruce and Tony working in the labs, learning more than her independent studies had taught her. With her previous understanding, and quickly expanding knowledge, along with the knowledge that there were many threats in the wizarding world against not just Cassia and others like her, but Muggleborns as well, she came up with an idea to build something that would detect magical signatures. It would be capable of detecting singular practitioners as well as magical centres. The four theorized that it would be necessary for the machine, when past the planning stage and built, to have ideas and templates of magical signatures, such as human magic and creature magic to be able to pick up on it properly, else it would simply register as another energy. It would be able to be used then to pick up on muggleborns and inform them of their abilities before wizarding governments were able to, and also locate those who had left the wizarding world. Not only that, it would allow them to find and help those on the run, such as other Neko’s. It would be better for them to be under protective custody of agencies like S.H.I.E.L.D than to be in a cage- or dead.

The final use, which Tony had come up with, was to locate the areas and ministries of the wizarding world to be able to target them if need be. After all, the slave trade was an officially sanctioned business. Something like that would need to be rooted out at its source. When Hermione had come up with the idea Tony had enthusiastically kissed her before quickly running preliminary ideas through his computer. Laughing at Tony’s behaviour, Jane and Bruce had just hugged Hermione, who was still in a sort of shock at the sudden move. They knew not to rush either of the girls, but Tony would act as he saw fit at times.

Cassia, knowing how much trouble she got into, asked the others to begin to teach her how to defend herself without magic. Bucky, Steve, Natasha and Sif all thought it was a great idea. Natasha and Steve began teaching her hand to hand combat, while Bucky and Sif began teaching her with weapons. She even roped Hermione into some of the sessions. She didn’t complain, knowing that, eight times out of ten, she’d probably be right beside Cassia when something was happening. Both of them eagerly took up Loki’s offer to teach them wandless magic, he even promised, when they knew a bit more, to teach them how to weave it into the moves they were being taught in fighting. Clint and Thor were surprisingly the trouble makers (even if Loki was mostly the one who talked them into doing something, they were the ones to actually do it). While Tony was prone to blowing things up if he got an idea for an experiment in mind, they were the ones to do it for the hell of it. It was three days after The Grangers, Bucky and Cassia had moved to the tower that they met Fury, who had stormed over to yell about several jets on the Hellicarrier needing urgent repairs because of Clint daring Thor to test whether he could hit one of Clint’s (exploding) arrows mid-flight with lightning when they had gone over to update Fury. They had left pretty quickly apparently. So, Hermione wasn’t surprised when Cassia had quickly fallen in with them and Loki. The others just shuddered with fear at what could potentially happen now. Pepper, probably anticipating the need for Cassia to understand business and finances and definitely wanting to limit her input to pranks, offered to teach her and Hermione about the company. Plus, it would be one less subject they would need to learn from tutors and using homework. In between all that there were movie nights and outings, and Pepper could have sworn that Tony was blocking her access to seeing their statements after she saw him looking at holiday sights. That was enough to tell her he was planning a getaway. Probably for all of them.

* * *

 It was almost a month later when Cassia received an email from the Queen’s secretary inviting her and one other to Buckingham Palace to meet with her and the Prime Minister in a weeks’ time. Her first reaction to the email was to show Hermione.

“She actually wants to meet with you. This is actually working!” Hermione said. “Who are you going to take with you?”

“You,” Cassia said, her tone indicating the obviousness of the answer to the inquiry.

Hermione smiled. “I’m glad and very happy your first thought was to include me on this one. I would love to go with you, but am I the best person for the job?”

“Of course you are. I wouldn’t want anyone else to watch out for me making a mistake, I’ve known and loved you for years and I trust you with my life.”

“Ditto on that, but this isn’t a battle, you’re going in there with the intention of making a strong set of political allies and thumbing your nose at the Ministry and Dumbledore and their plans. Wouldn’t it be better if perhaps the person who went with you knew how to play the game of politics and how to interact and deal with royalty?”

“Who do you have in mind?”

“Well, right upstairs there are two Princes and a member of the Asgardian court. Why don’t we start there?”

This statement was followed by a trip up in the lift, Cassia taking her new StarkPad with her. The only people currently in the living room area were Loki, Sif, Bucky, Steve and Bruce. They all looked up when the girls entered.

“What’s up?” Bruce asked.

“I got a response asking for me and one other person to meet with the Queen in a weeks’ time,” Cassia said, holding up the tablet.

“May I?” Loki asked, gesturing to the tablet.

Cassia handed it over to him as she sat down, allowing him to read the email. “It says here a car will arrive to pick you up at nine a.m. sharp from wherever you will be residing at the time of the meeting and for a quick response so the appropriate arrangements can be made. Who will be going with you to the actual meeting? I am sure some reservations at a sufficient hotel can be made soon.”

“Well, my first thought was Hermione until she pointed out a rather obvious flaw,” Cassia answered.

“I have no experience in politics, so I suggested she take someone who did.”

“So, Loki then?” Sif asked.

“Well, either of you or Thor came to mind actually,” Hermione said.

Loki nodded. “I can see where you are coming from. I would be glad to come myself if neither Thor nor Sif protests?”

“You will get no arguments from me,” Sif said.

“And none from me either,” Thor added, entering the living room and sitting down.

“Then we’ll just have to book a hotel and you can respond,” Steve said.

“You’re coming too?” Cassia asked.

“Of course. I’m sure the ministry is bound to realise what happens pretty quickly. Whatever way they retaliate, we’ll be ready for them.”

* * *

 

Cassia decided she preferred to travel by private jet rather than commercial. It was far comfier and there was more room. And it saved them from the attention they’d get from travelling with the Avengers on a public aircraft. She was rather glad Tony had his own jet now. She hated being stared at.

Tony had booked several interconnecting suites for them at the Ritz Hotel which came with chauffeurs ready to pick them up from the airport. They had booked in for two days prior to the meeting and eleven days after. The full time would give them a chance to respond to whatever reaction the Ministry gave.

Between receiving the response and the day of the meeting itself, Loki had been doing his best to teach Cassia as much as he could about politics- a very difficult subject to learn in the short space of time they had- and the required etiquette for meeting with heads of state.

On the morning of the meeting Cassia woke up early to get ready, getting dressed into a skirt suit and applying a light amount of makeup before pulling half her hair up into a braid and leaving the other half down. She made sure she still had her watch on before feeling ready to leave the room. The watch was actually an image inducer. It told time, but it made her appear to be a normal human, just like her glamour charm, except this would stand up to a magical inspection. If her glamour charm came down, she would have the inducer to appear human, and the wizards wouldn’t suspect a thing.

She had dressed without waking Hermione, so she lightly kissed her soul mate on the forehead and went out and headed for the front door of the suite where Loki was waiting for her.

“Breakfast is waiting for us downstairs, and the car will be here at nine,” he reminded, opening the door for her.

She smiled weakly. “I remember.”

“Are you nervous?”

“Yeah.”

“Do not worry. I will be there to help you through all of it. If you are unsure of how to respond, I can help you through the bond,” Loki told her, offering her his arm which she accepted and they headed for the lift, which took them down to the restaurant where breakfast was being served. Cassia helped herself to a small amount of food from the buffet selection and a cup of tea.

“Is that all you are going to eat?” his tone was slightly worried.

“I don’t normally eat much breakfast,” she said, remembering Hermione, Dan, Emma and even, lately, Bucky, trying to encourage her to eat more.

“You should try to eat a bit more if you can,” Loki said. “It will be better for you.”

“I’ve just never eaten an awful lot,” Cassia shrugged.

He frowned but left it at that, not wanting to push her just yet. She would open up in her own time. Cassia was a bundle of nerves by the time the car arrived for them. He did his best to keep her calm while they headed for Buckingham and could see that she was able to at least keep enough control on things that she wouldn’t do something rash.

As they were led through the ornate palace, Cassia gripped his arm tightly, glad she wasn’t alone. She was highly worried that the Queen would turn down her request. When they entered the meeting room, they saw Director Ragnok there, as well as the Prime Minister and Cassia was so shocked by it that she had to be mentally reminded by Loki to curtsy. He simply inclined his head to the Queen, who returned the gesture.

“Welcome, Prince Loki, Lady Potter. We wish we could welcome you on business that was of a more pleasant nature,” the Queen said. “Please, sit down.” She said, sitting and they, the Prime Minister and Director Ragnok took their seats. “Director Ragnok as well as your letter has informed us of the state our wizarding subjects had fallen into. A state which has been kept from us all these years. Tell us, do you still wish to follow your previously stated course of action?”

“I do, your majesty,” Cassia nodded.

“I have been told one of the reasons is due to a marriage law that the Wizengamot is trying to pass, but I have not been told why you have an aversion to this as it was your place to tell it?”

 _‘I would assume it is safe to tell her and the Prime Minister. Ragnok would have told them, but it may sound better coming from us.’_ Loki told her.

“I have found myself in a rather… unique situation,” Cassia began, looking to Loki who nodded. She rolled up her sleeves, revealing the list of names on each. “Loki and I, and everyone else on this list, are soul mates, and the bond between us is very much active and it has been since the first time all of us were in the same room as each other at one time. In magic, this registers as a marriage. However, the wizarding world has decreed that unless a pureblood wizarding marriage ceremony takes place, no marriage exists. They are trying to gain control of me through marriage, something I want no part of. This is a strange situation, one I am slowly coming to terms with, but I don’t want to be forced into a marriage by people who just want me to end a war for them when they are too lazy to do it themselves,” she glanced to Loki who nodded and she turned off the image inducer and dropped her glamour. “There is also the fact that they would enslave me, just because I am not human.”

The Queen’s face was grave. “You are being persecuted for things you cannot help, and so are many others within the magical world. Prime Minister, have you heard from other world leaders on the matter?”

“Many members of the UN have been informed, Ma’am. Each magical government, though they believe otherwise, is a subdivision of the non-magical government in their respective countries.”

“Can I take it then, that something is being planned against the wizarding communities?”

The Prime Minister nodded. “Slavery is abhorrent to us, and the history of these so called Dark Lords prove the magical communities cannot successfully govern themselves without their conflicts spilling out to affect those without magic. Their sense of superiority sees those with non-magical heritage targeted and killed, while those who are magical yet not human are legally enslaved. I like to believe we as a race have evolved enough that slavery is something no government will endorse obviously, in some cases, that is incorrect. So yes, we are planning something.”

“As it is, your request has come to be a great advantage. Many in your world will view it simply as you escaping the marriage law the Wizengamot wish to enact and think no more of it. Bear in mind, Lady Potter, we have decided to grant your request and accept the donated lands and funds and then give them back to you as one of our non-magical subjects, and not as a witch. However, we would like you to consider becoming our eyes and ears within the magical world, be that here in Britain or even in America, and report all you know of them to us and our agents. If you could acquire books and research materials from places like Diagon Alley, so we will know exactly the ins and outs of their society and our forces will be able to adequately prepare for any confrontation with the wizards.”

“Bear in mind, Lady Potter, the Goblin Nation would also wish to aid you and your bond mates in anything to do with this situation,” Ragnok said, leaning forward. “The wizards have much to atone for, and it is high time they started.”

Cassia was momentarily at a loss at what they wanted her to do. She had no doubt this would eventually lead to some form of hostile takeover of the ministry. Probably more than one. She felt the twelve others in the bond send a positive response to her, letting her know they would all go along with the idea. Loki physically nodded at her when she looked up at him, letting the others in the room know she had at least one person’s support. She looked at them.

“I’ll do whatever you need me to do. I hate the idea of what they do to non-humans and non-purebloods too. Tell me what you need me to do, and I’ll do it.”

“For now, there is nothing that we require of any of you. However, there is one final piece of business to address. While you have a Ladyship, your title has no attachment. You have a large estate, according to the documents Director Ragnok supplied us with, in Gwynedd, which I have been told is your main property- your family’s ancestral home? It is customary, in these situations, to transfer those in question to an estate of equal power and prestige as in the wizarding world, therefore, from this day onwards you will be Lady Cassia Lily Potter, Marchioness of Gwynedd.”

“Thank you, your majesty, I am very grateful, though if I could impose on you to ask one more slight favour?”

“What would that be, Marchioness?” Her tone indicated a warning for Cassia not to overstep her bounds.

“I have a rather large house with ample grounds in Hereford, as well as a secondary home a little away from the manor in Gwynedd. I was wondering if it would be possible to turn them into some sort of orphanages? I know what it’s like having a less than happy child hood and I would like to create somewhere that, even if it takes in only a few children, will give them a safe haven, a home where they can grow up and learn what the world is like in safety.”

The Queen smiled and nodded, and tension was released from the air. “That is a very generous offer, and I am sure something will be done. Of course, a committee will be set up with at least one member being a representative of our government’s child services to oversee the running of these new homes, but would you be interested in taking a seat on the committee also?”

“Would it be possible? I’m only seventeen myself and I’ll be staying in America fairly often.”

“We are sure Mr Stark will be more than able to set you up on a video call for any meetings you were out of the country for. Also, as to your young age, we believe your experiences will give you a unique insight to any problems any of the children coming into the homes will experience.”

Cassia smiled and nodded. After that, tea and a selection of scones was brought in while Cassia told them what she knew of the structure of the Ministry of Magic and Ragnok supplied what he could too. Loki even informed them of the work Hermione, Tony, Bruce and Jane were doing to build a machine to detect magic. This whole conversation was recorded so the information could be correctly handed down to the right people.

“So, let me get this straight,” the Prime Minister said, “Just for a charge of underage magic to defend yourself, they put you in one of the court rooms where the trials of mass murderers and other such criminals are held?”

Cassia nodded. “Pretty much. The Minister, Fudge, was trying to discredit me at the time.”

“I never did like the man when I met him,” the Prime Minister said.

“He shouldn’t be long for office now. He’s not much of a war time minister,” Cassia said.

“Lady Potter is of course, correct,” Ragnok supplied. “I have had reports from my people on the bank floor of mutterings of disquiet from our customers concerning Cornelius Fudge. I can see him being replaced soon enough.”

“That may very well see a more competent, battle ready minister take his place, probably a bad thing for any one assaulting the ministry,” Loki noted. “Should he be replaced, a full assessment of his successor should be undertaken before any move is made. It would be unwise to underestimate him or her.”

“Quite right of course,” the Prime Minister nodded. “Before any moves are made, the right planning is required. Research and planning will always be our first move.”

“What then? What is the plan to deal with the wizarding community?” Cassia asked.

“We hope to integrate the magical population with the non-magical population. Of course, with the revelation of other worlds, and the rise in the number of mutants, our world is changing. People now will be more willing to accept a hidden society being revealed around this time than they would have say, before the Battle of New York? The Ministry will become a branch of the government, dealing with any magical related problems, of course they would always answer to the larger governmental body and wizards and witches would be subject to the same laws as the rest of the country. If they break any of our laws, they will receive the same sanctions as anyone else would,” the Prime Minister supplied.

Cassia was satisfied with that answer. It sounded reasonable to her. “Have you been informed of what the loss of the Potter funds in the wizarding economy will do to their society?”

“I have informed them, Lady Potter, which is another reason to the positive response to your request today,” Ragnok grinned. “This move will help destabilise them, make it easier to move against them. Of course, Gringotts was more than happy to help. It is my hope that my nation’s alliance with non-magical folk will be far more profitable for both of us in the long run.”

“So do we, Director Ragnok. So do we,” the Queen agreed.

* * *

 

It was after lunch time when they left the palace. As the car left the grounds, Cassia rubbed her eyes. “I need to go for a walk,” she sighed. She was relieved at how well it had all went, but she needed to work through it all in her head.

Loki nodded. “Can you drop us off at the Thames bank, driver? We will make our own way back from there.”

“Of course sir,” the man replied.

There was silence in the car up until they reached the Themes where the driver dropped them off. They thanked him and got out.

“That went well I thought,” Loki said.

“Yes, it did,” Cassia nodded.

“Your idea of turning two of your properties into orphanages was also a stroke of genius. I was worried for a moment when you asked for a favour, but that sort of thing was always going to go down well.”

“I wasn’t really thinking about any positive responses from her except getting a yes.”

“So you meant what you said then? About knowing how hard it was?” He frowned.

“Sort of yeah. I wish I didn’t, but I do. And nothing’ll change that now, but I can do something to help others.”

“You are a remarkable young woman, Cassia. We are lucky to have you. Both you and Hermione. And anyone who treated you in a less than proper manor were at the very least fools.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulder, drawing her into him. “Anyone looking to hurt you will have to go through us.”

She smiled up at him, before the moment was interrupted by a hated voice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you think? Please review!


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing!

“GIRL!” The shout drew a few stares, but people quickly moved on. The large walrus like man was waddling towards them as quickly as his round legs could carry him. Loki would have found the sight humorous if he hadn’t seen the hate in the man’s eyes- hate directed right at Cassia- and felt the slight tinge of fear from Cassia herself as she shrunk slightly, a reaction that he could tell was one used for years. “I would like a word with you!”

Loki moved so he was partially in front of her, arms slightly outstretched, letting the large mortal know he had to deal with Loki before he got to Cassia.

“Get out of my way, I want to speak to my niece.”

“No. You look like you wish her harm. You will get no chance to lay a single hand on her. If you wish to say anything to her, you will say it now and be on your way.”

Vernon’s beady eyes narrowed as he looked Loki up and down, before focusing on Cassia. “What have you been playing at girl? I’ve had some of your lot around my house every night for the past two weeks! The neighbours are starting to ask questions! I don’t want any of this freakishness coming round my house do you hear me?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about Uncle Vernon. I’ve been out of the country until a few days ago.” “So who the bloody hell sent those freaks round? You won’t get away with it girl! You can’t go bothering decent, normal folk like your aunt and I!”

“I swear I don’t know anything about this!”

“They were around asking where you were, like they didn’t know!”

“But they don’t! I didn’t tell them!”

“Then ruddy well tell them girl! Before I-” he was cut off as Loki raised his hand, obviously silencing him magically.

“That is quite enough. I will not tolerate you treating Cassia in such a disrespectful manner. Leave it go. Tell them we are in non-magical London the next time they call. It should not take them much longer to find us. I wish to speak with them anyway. Mark my words though, mortal- if I find out you ever harmed Cassia nothing will save you. Come, my lady, we were going to take a walk, were we not?” He led Cassia away, leaving a terrified Vernon Dursley behind.

When he was out of sight, Cassia sagged slightly with relief of being away from him. Loki moved his arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his side. “You do not have to talk about it, but if you wish to, I will listen. I know for some reason you were terrified of him- and there can be no good reason for that. It will help you to talk to someone. Hermione, myself, one of the others or the Grangers. But it would be best for you to talk to someone.”

Cassia nodded, unable to bring a smile to her face just now. “I- my relatives and I have never been on the best of terms. They hate magic. So, when I was dumped on them after my parents died… well it wasn’t the best arrangement. Hogwarts was my first home. Hermione taught me what love was. I never knew what it was really, before I met her…” Cassia trailed off into silence. It was very hard for her to acknowledge these things. The information would have to come a bit at a time, when she felt able to talk. Unfortunately, after their encounter with Vernon, she was not feeling up to talking much, a feeling of dread pooling in her stomach.

“Here,” Loki guided her over to a café with outdoor seating overlooking the river and sat her down at a table, so she had a good view of the Thames. He sat down opposite her and they ordered drinks. Cassia sipped the warm tea, thankful for it, feeling it soothing her frayed nerves. “I meant what I said earlier. Anyone who wishes to hurt you will have plenty of opposition before they reach you.”

This time, Cassia managed a smile. She appeared to have a family growing around her slowly, and it was something she had always wanted. Granted, the bond between them all made it highly unconventional, and they all had their own little quirks and problems, but this was definitely her family now- however strange.

* * *

 

It was two hours before they arrived back at the Hotel and the others were all waiting for them. While the others had been listening in, they wanted to go over everything again and also wanted to know what happened at the Thames with Vernon. Emma and Dan looked like they wanted to get Vernon into their chair for some surgery- without pain killers. That night, the group ended up going to see a show to try and relax. Though, how ‘The Woman in Black’ could be construed as relaxing, Cassia didn’t know. While she enjoyed the show immensely, she found herself, for the first time since they’d met, questioning the judgement of Jane and Pepper, whose choice the show had been.

Cassia went to sleep that night happy, but it didn’t last as a nightmare plagued her. She was six years old and in the kitchen of her relative’s home, and had just dropped some of the food. That had brought on one of the worst beatings she had ever endured, where her Uncle flew into a fit of rage, throwing her into a wall and kicking her, screaming at her all the while before landing a few punches at the curled up, pleading girl. When he eventually stopped, Cassia was left with the pain, and knowing that something was broken.

“Clean the mess girl, and don’t you dare think you’ll be getting anything to eat tonight,” Vernon growled.

Cassia moved as quickly as she could, which with her new injuries was not very fast at all. After she was done, the dream changed to a later beating where Vernon grabbed her by her hair and was lifting his belt when she was shaken awake to see a tearful Hermione leaning over her. Cassia let out a sob and latched onto Hermione, terrified her relatives would turn up. Seeing Vernon earlier had been a worse experience than she had earlier thought, causing her mind to bring up two different beatings in one dream.

“It’s alright,” Hermione said, sniffing. “You’re alright Cassia. He’s not here. You’re safe.”

“Tell me that wasn’t a memory,” Bruce said.

Cassia peered over Hermione’s shoulder to see that the others had all piled into hers and Hermione’s room. Had they all seen her dream? Had she broadcast it? Bruce was looking a little green, and there was a flash of the same colour in his eyes. There was thunder rumbling outside, and Thor’s face was as dark as the storm clouds that were sure to be convening above their heads at that very moment. Sif appeared ready to murder someone and Loki’s expression was closed off, but Cassia could feel the anger from him, and the sense of a missed opportunity. Jane, while looking furious, also had tears in her eyes and got onto the bed and hugged Cassia from behind, as Cassia was still holding onto Hermione and vice versa.

“Is there something we can do to make him pay?” Pepper asked, looking at Tony. “Our lawyers-”

“Cassia would need to be examined by a doctor first,” Natasha interrupted. “Wounds that brute caused were bound to leave some sort of mark. Once there was physical proof, something could be done legally, but that will take ages.”

“He’d know of the Winter Soldier, right?” Bucky asked, his left arm flexing. He was staring at a wall, jaw tight, obviously trying not to lash out.

“Probably,” Clint said, flashing a grin that was pure evil.

Tony shook his head. “Nah, just you turning up isn’t going to do enough. He really needs to pay. And so does anyone who helped him,” he looked to Cassia and his voice softened. “Did anyone else join in with him?”

Cassia nodded. “My aunt. And they encouraged my cousin too.”

“What do you have in mind, Tony? You’re right. A quick death is too easy for them,” Steve said, and that was when it dawned on Cassia how seriously everyone was taking this. Steve didn’t anger easily, she knew. And he never seemed to want to kill anyone. He knew death was a necessary part of wars and battle, and would and had killed to defend others, but he’d never said anything like this that she knew of. For him to be this angry at what she had suffered…

“Well, first thing’s first- we find out what their biggest fear is, and then we start playing on it. Then, start chipping away at them, make it unbearable for them to live where they are any longer, before finishing them financially. When that’s happened, it’s open season on them.”

“Their image,” Hermione said. She had seen and heard enough of the Dursley’s to know their biggest fear. “They like to maintain the image of the perfect, normal, family.”

“Then how would they explain Cassia’s magic? Surely she had times where she lost control of it? And then there is the fact that Cassia was away at Hogwarts learning to use it most of the time?” Sif asked.

“They said I was a delinquent and the school I went to was one for incurably criminal girls,” came the muffled answer. “I didn’t even know what I was or how my parents died until I was eleven. They lied about it.”

“Then we reveal their lies to the world,” Loki said. “You are the Marchioness of Gwynedd now, and have just donated two of your properties to become orphanages. Not only that, if we come up for a cover story for your magic, and Hermione’s, you two staying at the Tower will begin to make sense to the public. Perhaps if you were seen on the news, a possible future avenger and a member of the aristocracy, looking after orphans because you do not want others suffering as you did will see fingers in their community being pointed at them. Their ‘reputation’ will start being pulled apart and scrutinised.”

Cassia liked the sound of that. She may not like the attention, or using her fame, but she would be helping others who could end up in similar situations to her and be hurting the Dursley’s for what they had done to her. She had thought many times of how to make them pay for that.

“We’ll deal with the rest, kitten,” Bucky said, “don’t you worry about that.”

“I have an idea. Capsicle, come on,” Tony said. The two left the room and a few minutes later they all heard the sounds of something large being moved round.

“Tony, what’s going on?” Pepper asked.

“We’re moving the mattresses to the living room! It’ll be like a sleep over!”

It was obvious why he was doing this and Cassia felt grateful. Soon, they were all pulling mattresses, blankets and pillows into the living room. Tony grabbed the alcohol that was in the suite and glasses. None of them were quite ready to go back to sleep, so they all got a drink. Butterbeer was the strongest thing that Cassia had ever drunk, so the whiskey quickly provided her with a warm buzz- which was what the billionaire had intended. Stories that brought more laughter than seriousness to the situation were soon flowing.

“We have had to ban Tony and Bruce from competing to make the loudest explosions in the lab,” Pepper said. “We were starting to have to wear headphones to bed because of it.”

“Thor’s not allowed to join in either,” Jane added. “ _That_ almost levelled the tower.”

“Twas not my fault, Jane. Tony and Bruce assured me it would be safe,” Thor said, pouting.

“Well, what about the time you removed two walls trying to put up a photo on one of said walls?”

“That was my fault.”

“And now you’ve been banned from hammering in a nail to a wall.”

“What happened? The first time I mean?” Cassia asked, trying not to laugh.

“Eh, Tony and I were experimenting and I kind of accidently set off an explosion when I mixed up ingredients,” Bruce said. “Tony then decided it was his job to make a louder explosion.”

“Of course, Bruce couldn’t let it go, so he wanted to one up me,” Tony added.

“And we had four weeks of Hel, up until Thor got involved and then we decided to intervene,” Sif concluded.

“They threatened to castrate us,” Tony said, eyeing Jane, Pepper, Natasha and Sif. Thor and Bruce just shifted.

“Oh, don’t forget the time you set us onto that General to make his life a living hell,” Clint said grinning.

“What’s this?” Pepper asked, looking at Tony.

“Eh…”

“Ooops,” Clint said, shrinking down. “You didn’t tell her?”

Tony shook his head. “Pepper, General Ross had Bruce hunted for years. Some pay back was required.”

“Tony, why didn’t you run that by me? I know more about the things in your company than you do on most days, I have a full inventory. There are quite a few things that you have produced, but then forget about. I could have made sure they had a few more things that no one would have expected.”

“That’s true,” Tony nodded, looking relieved. “OW!”

“That, was for keeping it a secret from me,” Pepper said, retracting the hand that had hit him across the head.

“What about you two? What sort of- non homicidal maniac related- trouble did you get up to?” Natasha asked.

Cassia and Hermione exchanged a glance and then grinned. “There was the incident with the nifflers. They’re creatures that sniff out anything shiny, like gold and jewels, and bring it back to the nest. They’ll even tear homes apart to find treasure. Well, we were studying them in fifth year and were sick and tired of Umbridge, the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, and we, along with three others, grabbed as many nifflers as we could and set them loose in her office?” Hermione said.

They were all laughing at that. “What was her face like?” Loki asked.

Cassia brought back the memory of seeing Umbridge, her clothes torn and hair a mess and a look of shock on her face as she stumbled down the corridor to mind and let them all see it, which had them howling with laughter. None of them liked the sound of Umbridge.

“And then there was the time Cassia managed to become the youngest seeker on a school Quidditch team in a century.”

“Ok, explain both those terms and the how,” Tony prompted.

“Quidditch is a very popular wizarding sport,” Cassia said, before explaining the game to them. “But it happened during our first flying lesson. Our friend Neville had just broken his wrist and Madam Hooch had taken him off to the hospital wing. But, he’d dropped his remembrall, an item which tells you if you’ve forgotten something, but not what you’ve forgotten. Useless really, but his gran had sent it him. Then this ponce, Malfoy, picks it up laughing. I tell him to give it to me, and he decides he’d rather hide it somewhere- like up a tree. He flies off and I fly after him. He decides it might be safer for him if he threw it away- so I wouldn’t have the chance to knock him off his broom. I flew after it and caught it, but Professor McGonagall had seen the lot. I thought I would be expelled and sent back to Privet Drive. But no, she puts me on the Gryffindor Quidditch team instead.”

“This was not only in our first flying lesson, but Cassia’s first time on a broom. She’d never even kicked off and hovered before. She’s a natural.”

“You like to fly?” Thor asked.

“I love it,” Cassia shrugged. “I go flying every chance I get.”

* * *

 

When Dan and Emma woke up the next morning and came into the living room they received a shock to see the mass of sleeping bodies on mattresses on the floor, in a pile of tangled limbs. The original furniture had been pushed to the side of the room and stacked. They didn’t know how it had stayed in place, but they assumed magic had something to do with it. For a moment they thought Cassia and Hermione were still in their own room, until Emma saw the twitch of a tail, brushing over Sif, before it disappeared again.

“What happened?” Emma whispered.

“Not a clue. It was a pretty heavy day yesterday, though. It may have something to do with that.”

A groan reached them and Natasha’s head poked up, her red hair a mess, and her eyes half shut. “What time is it?” She murmured.

“Quarter to nine,” Emma answered.

“Right. Clint, wake up,” she said, reaching over Pepper to shake the blonde archer. “We have to make our report to Fury by nine remember, let him know we haven’t destroyed London.”

“Right, I’m up.”

The two got up carefully, but the movement had started to wake up the others. It took some time, food and drinks, but soon everyone else was awake.

“So, what’s going on today? Any more important visits today?” Emma asked.

“None planned. You should be able to head out to talk with your lawyers and that about selling your practice and house without worrying,” Pepper said.

“Should?” Dan asked.

“Honestly, anything could happen on our end,” Bruce sighed. “We don’t exactly lead normal lives.”

“That is true,” Tony chirped in.

“Tony also goes looking for trouble at times,” Jane said.

“That is also true!”

“We will be fine,” Loki assured. It occurred to Hermione and Cassia then why he was the god of _lies_. Dan and Emma believed him instantly, and they knew there was absolutely no way of knowing if it was true until the day was over.

It was sometime after midday, when Dan and Emma were gone, that the group of wizards arrived. The group apparated into the living room, only to be met with drawn weapons being pointed at them. It was Dumbledore and some of the Order, including several of the Weasleys.

“Alright, let’s start with who the hell are you and what the hell do you want?” Steve asked.

“I am Albus Dumbledore, and we are here to take Cassia and Hermione to a safe location.”

“This is a safe location,” Loki said. “Safer than one you could provide. You only found us because I lifted the shielding just enough for you to pick up on the magic here, and only then because we had a few questions.”

“We don’t have to tell you anything, Laddie,” Mad Eye said.

“After what Cassia and Hermione have gone through under your ‘protection’? Yeah, you kind of do,” Bucky said. His metal arm was hidden under the clothes he was wearing, but he could still be quite intimidating.

“That is none of your concern,” Dumbledore said.

Clint rolled up his sleeves and showed his wrists and the names. “That’s where you’re wrong old man. It’s our concern alright.”

“Like their relationship isn’t weird enough, they’re with all of you now?” Ron asked, his ears reddening.

“Honestly, Ronald, they’re our soul mates,” Hermione said. “That definitely means something. Perhaps if you’d try looking for yours then you’d know what that meant.”

“Miss Granger, this sort of relationship, even just between yourself and Miss Potter, is frowned upon in our society. The public will not stand for it. Besides, there are new marriage laws coming into effect for those who hold property and also a seat on the Wizengamot…”

“Which have no control over me or Hermione,” Cassia spoke up. “And the public can go screw themselves. I think, after everything, I deserve some happiness.”

“Cassia Potter! How dare you speak to the Headmaster like that?” Molly shouted.

“I don’t know who you are, but it’s not your place to chastise Cassia like that,” Pepper stood. “You aren’t her mother. As far as I’m aware, Emma Granger is the closest to that position.”

“As it is, Cassia is incorrect,” Dumbledore interrupted the impending explosion. “The Potters hold a substantial amount of property, both land property and currency within our society, and also a seat on the Wizengamot, thus meeting the two qualifications to be pulled into the marriage law.”

“I think you’ll find, Professor, the first no longer applies to me. You see, I may have sold all the stocks and shares I held in the wizarding world, before donating all my money and property to the Crown. They were then donated to the Marchioness of Gwynedd, which is a muggle title, by the way. Apparently, two of the properties are soon to become muggle orphanages.”

“You what?”

“If needed, I’ll happily give up the seat on the Wizengamot too.”

“Do you have any idea what this could do to our world?” Dumbledore had lost the grandfatherly façade and was obviously angry now.

“Yes actually, I do. I am fed up of the bigotry that is rife in the wizarding world. Think of it as a wakeup call.”

“You need to undo this. Now.”

“No can do. Even if you get rid of the marriage contract. I don’t care who you think you are, Dumbledore, but you don’t get to control me and my actions. I am going to live the life I want- your machinations be damned.”

“What about the war? You’re not going to leave us to face the Death Eaters alone, are you?” Ron asked.

“Personally, I don’t see much difference between sides. Both have rampant bigotry and hatred. This war is of the wizarding communities own doing. They can sort it out for themselves.” “I can see that in the short period they have known you, these people have corrupted you, Cassia. I’m afraid it is for the greater good that you and Miss Granger come with us now to help get you both back on track,” Dumbledore said, stepping forward, only for Cassia and Hermione to be pulled back by Thor and Loki, all the others rearranging themselves between the two magic users and the Order.

“That will not be happening. Anyone trying to take them from us will be met with lethal force if it comes to a fight. You get this one warning, Dumbledore. Leave them alone, they are ours and we will protect them,” Loki snarled.

“You will not like the consequences of challenging us. I took down one of your slavers markets by myself,” Thor said. “There were far more wizards firing spells at me then than you have here tonight, and I was alone then. You stand no chance here.”

“That was you?” Arthur asked. “That sent the whole American ministry as well as ours and France’s as well as others into disarray and panic!”

“Aye, it was me. And I will do far more than that if provoked.”

“You attacked our people for no reason!” Dumbledore said.

“I had reason enough. Slavery is abhorrent to me. Those were sentient beings you were selling against their wills. Do not presume to think that just because the practice of slavery is condoned by you wizard’s means that others are so accepting of it. Other people have become far more advanced than that.”

“Look, take the warning, leave the girls be. If they want to come back to help, we’ll come help too, but if not, they get to live the life they want,” Steve said.

“But if you try and force this, it’s open season for us on you lot. We won’t discriminate either. Order member or Death Eater, it’ll all be the same to us,” Bucky added, grinning.

“You think you can stand up to all wizards?” Kingsley asked.

“Well, yeah,” Tony said, grinning. “I mean, without Bucky, Cassia or Hermione’s help we fended off an alien army alone, with a single nuke. This also included fighting off a psychotic Asgardian enchantress called Amora and her pet executioner, and trust me, they can summon a punch much harder than you ever could. You’ll be little to no problem, the way I see it.”

“All in all, your little intimidation factor’s just failed. We’ve faced worse than you, and will face worse again,” Natasha said.

“So back off,” Clint finished.

“I see this will not work. But you understand little of what is going on. Cassia, I hope to help you see sense soon.” He turned and apparated away, and they followed suit, leaving the group of soul mates alone in the hotel room.

“Who fancies going out tonight? Apparently there’s a really good restaurant not far from here,” Tony said, looking round, and breaking most of the tension.

“He will not give up,” Thor said, still looking at the spot Dumbledore and the Order had been in.

“No, but we already knew that,” Steve said. “We just have to be ready for his next move.”

But Cassia was not worried about what they would do to try and get control of her again. She suddenly saw a downside to what Hermione was helping to create and build. What if the wizards found out about it? What if they found out Hermione was behind it? What would they do then? And what would they try to do to Jane, Tony and Bruce who were also working on the machine?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please review!


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing!

It was a day later when the summons came. The letter commanded her to appear before the Wizengamot to answer some questions about the movement of her inheritance. Together, a plan was devised between themselves and a few SHIELD higher ups that would see her heading to answer the summons- and terrify the shit out of the self-important ponces. However, just behind the letter from the Wizengamot came one from Ragnok asking to meet after she had addressed the Wizengamot. Apparently, there was something that he wished to speak with them about. While all the avengers, bar one, would be present with her, but invisible to the wizards (Bucky would remain visible), they would all be visible to see the goblins. Jane and Pepper would meet them at the bank. They could understand remaining out of the ministry, but would not be excluded from the Gringotts meeting. Everything for the event was planned to a T. Even what clothes Cassia would be wearing.

She would dress as a quintessential muggle, sending a snub at even that part of wizarding culture, wearing a nice pant suit with flat, sensible shoes. The only reason she wouldn’t be wearing heels was because if it came to a fight they would be a liability. They had several key moves that had to be moved into the meeting, no matter what happened. And they would make sure the Wizengamot knew she would not be controlled by them.

On the day, they headed towards the entrance to the ministry. Just before they stepped into the box, Loki used his magic to change Bucky’s clothes into his combat gear before he slipped his mask on. The others became invisible and teleported down, into the ministry building below. Cassia and Bucky got into the phone box.

“You ready?” Bucky asked her, his voice muffled by the mask. He was armed to the teeth, and not all his weapons could be seen. It was a highly intimidating look. She quickly grasped his right hand and squeezed.

“As ready as possible, I guess,” Cassia said, looking up at him and wishing she could see his eyes. She then released his hand and dialled the number, before hearing the automatic voice asking her name and reason for visit.

“Cassia Potter and the Winter Soldier, here to see the Wizengamot.”

Two badges appeared where the change would, one with her name and the other with ‘The Winter Soldier’ on it. Bucky let his drop to the floor. He wouldn’t need a badge for people to know who he was. He had a similar notoriety within the wizarding world as Bellatrix and Voldemort did. But both sides feared him equally. He’d killed enough on both sides with no thought to it.

The lift descended and they were soon in the ministry atrium. The golden fountain received a look of loathing from Cassia before she started to head for the guard desk. Hush descended on the area as people noticed who walked among them. It was probably only the fact that he was following her that Bucky’s presence didn’t cause all out panic. The guard at the desk stood from his seat, face pale.

“M-Miss Potter… is h-he w-w-with you?” The guard looked weakly at Bucky.

“He is. The Soldier’s my body guard. I’ve been in enough dangerous situations to convince me I need one. I’m sure you’ll understand, with who is after me, that I will only have the best.”

She hated referring to him as just the soldier, but Bucky had pushed for it. Giving out his identity, making it easier to add that human element to someone thought of nothing more than a killing machine, would not keep the terror levels up.

“Of course.”

“Do I really need to weigh my wand? I was here just before my fifth year, and it’s the same wand. I just want to get going to my appointment, get it over with. I really have no time for these posturing fools, but needs must I suppose.”

“No, go on through.”

“Great, thank you. Where are the Wizengamot chambers, exactly? I’ve never been there before.”

The guard summoned a young orderly who began shaking as he led them to the elevators. The ride down was interesting. The other occupants of the lift tried to press up against the walls to avoid her and Bucky. All were anxious to reach their floor and get out without being killed, so no one said a thing.

The trembling wizard led them into the Wizengamot chamber, and his shaking was undoubtedly the first thing the gathered witches and wizards noted. When they saw Bucky, several screams prevailed, and they looked like they wanted nothing more than to dash for the door. Unfortunately for them, said door was behind Bucky and thus, out of their reach.

A bang from Dumbledore’s wand brought order back to the room for the most part. The members of the Wizengamot were highly restless, watching Bucky wearily.

“Lady Potter, can I ask why you brought… him?” Fudge asked.

“The Soldier has volunteered to be my bodyguard. It was decided I needed one, and he offered. Of course I said yes, his resume speaks for itself, doesn’t it?” Cassia smiled at the podgy minister. “Now, how about we get right to business?”

“Yes, of course,” Dumbledore said. “Your movement of your entire fortune and property into the muggle world has seen the beginning of a potentially devastating financial crisis. Would you care to explain why?”

“Yes, actually I would. My parents were taken from me at a young age. Everyone focused on me surviving, instead of taking into account the fact I had become an orphan. I was then dumped, with only a letter attached to me, on a doorstep, on a November night. No one checked up on me. And if they did, well they obviously didn’t care for me all that much because I was left in an abusive home. If any of you have the idea I was a pampered child, get it out of your head now. I was treated as badly as many of you treat house elves. I was beaten, starved, and slept in the cupboard under the stairs while all of you, the people who should have been looking out for me, lived in luxury. Then came my Hogwarts years. I was expected to be the perfect saviour. You vacillated between worshipping me and vilifying me when all I wanted was to be an ordinary teenager. I didn’t want any of that attention, yet you took my life, made it as public as possible. People were free to interfere where they wanted to. You also decided that I was the only one to be able to defeat Voldemort, so should let me do all the heavy lifting. Screw that. Not only are you a bunch of lazy hypocrites, you are also a bunch of bigots. You promote slavery and bigotry against anything or anyone different. Blood status is held up and promoted when it’s a pile of horse shit. Blood only serves to pump through our veins and keep us alive. Chief Warlock, I take it you are a Pureblood?”

“I am,” Dumbledore replied.

“If I had The Soldier slit your throat, your blood would spill out and you would die pretty quickly. The same thing would happen to a muggle. And no one would be able to tell the difference between whether the blood was magical or not. Yet you all think that somebody’s blood status defines them. I’m fed up with that. I’m fed up with seeing people be treated like shit just because you don’t think they’re pure enough. I’m sick of your ever changing opinions of me and heavy expectations. Wake up. Solve your own problems. I won’t be there to hold your hand any longer. In short- grow up. Prune the weeds that are choking your society before someone else does it for you.”

“You cannot just walk away,” Dumbledore said.

“Watch me.”

“You are a witch! You belong in the wizarding world! You own a wand and use it for magic!” Someone shouted out.

Cassia smiled. They would look back on this and see it as their fault, instead of her doing it just because she wanted to rub it in their faces. She took out her wand and held it up. “Do you mean this wand?” She looked to Bucky, and then back at them. “I find I don’t actually need it. He’s never used a wand, much less magic, before.” She snapped it clean in half. Many of them gasped and winced. She threw it onto the floor. “Tell me, how many of you would be brave enough to attack me, knowing I don’t have my wand right now? You all know very well what my companion is capable of. You attack me, he’ll take you out. I can stand here, and tell you exactly what I think of you backwards arseholes and you won’t raise a single wand against me. However, I’ve always been very blunt, I’d have told you all that before, but then I’d probably been cursed to hell and back. Now, if you don’t mind, I have a meeting with Director Ragnok before leaving the wizarding world except perhaps for the odd day trip. I’ll be watching to see if you clean up your acts. This is your only warning.”

“Warning for what?” Umbridge asked, her eyes narrowed.

“Oh, did I forget to mention? The muggles have gotten very sick of you all, pretending you’re so superior, with your wars every thirty years that spill over to the non-magical populace. If you don’t get a grip, they’ll step in and clean out the trash. The Prime Minister himself asked me to tell you that. Though, he worded it in a far more eloquent way. I don’t have time to posture for you lot.”

“You think we are afraid of the muggles?” She sneered.

“Oh, I think you should be terrified. Did I mention, The Soldier here has no magic? He’s one of their top assassins/warriors. And then there are the others… they’ve started gathering together groups of people you see, who’ve been tried and tested in combat. All to protect the world against threats that are not… normal, for them at least. If you aren’t careful, they will be pointed towards you. And you don’t want that. Now, I’ll be off. Like I said, I have an appointment.”

She turned and left the room, Bucky following her. As she had predicted, no one raised a wand to her. They were terrified. If she had forces like the Winter Soldier backing her, no one wanted to risk it. Perhaps Dumbledore would have, had he not been sure all his allies would abandon him then and there to save themselves. He would just have to continue with the main plan. Everything would work out in the end.

She and Bucky were almost at the exit when they ran into someone. “Potter.” The voice drawled.

She looked up into the dark eyes of Severus Snape. “Professor Snape. What a surprise.”

“What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same question. You’re alone, I see? A word of advice, I’m not.” She gestured to Bucky.

She had to give the guy credit, he didn’t as much as flinch when he looked over her shoulder and saw Bucky.

“Since when did you get a lap dog?”

“Actually, since my Birthday. I was attacked sometime after by someone under a misconception that I was more than I actually am. I think you can guess what happened to him.”

This time, he did flinch. It was small, and she almost didn’t see it, but she was watching him closely. “I see.”

“Apparently, my attacker talked,” Cassia smiled, and walked off. Let him stew in that for a while.

 _‘Can I kill him?’_ Bucky asked over the bond.

_‘Not here, not yet.’_

_‘You want him to wonder when? You’re scary. You know that, right?’_

_‘I’ve been told, yes.’_

They left the ministry, and the others revealed themselves. Tony looked like he was trying not to laugh. So was Clint for that matter.

“I think a few of the idiots shit themselves,” Clint said, his shoulders shaking.

“They probably did. I don’t know many of them with an actual spine,” Cassia said.

“Should we get going to Gringotts then?” Hermione asked.

“Definitely,” Cassia looped her arm with Hermione and they started towards the Leaky Cauldron. The pub was rather empty, and everyone there stared as they walked through. Bucky was now back in his combat gear, having changed back to normal clothes to walk through muggle London. It was the wizards they wanted to frighten, after all. Just before they reached the Leaky Cauldron, Bucky’s clothes shifted back to his combats, courtesy of Loki. People in the pub and the alley gave them a wide birth as they past, and they stared and whispered. Cassia was going to attract attention anyway, but this time she had a group of people with her who were completely unknown, and one who lurked in their worst nightmares. The group were not stopped as they entered the bank and quickly greeted by a goblin and led down sloping corridors to Ragnok’s office. Jane and Pepper were already there, talking with Ragnok.

“I see they did not arrest you then?”

“They were too afraid to even attempt to come close to her,” Clint snorted.

“What exactly is this meeting about?” Natasha asked, cutting straight to the point.

“It is about Avalon,” Ragnok said. “Avalon and the well within it.”

“What well?” Tony asked.

“The legend states that there is a well in Avalon that can grant immortality to any who drink the water from it. And grant them powers to go with the immortality,” Hermione said. “As far as I know, it’s just a legend.”

“Not quite,” Loki told her. “The well does indeed have the power to do just that. But it is well hidden and even better protected.”

“And there is also the fact that should any drink without being granted permission they would be dragged before our father,” Thor said. “No doubt he would be lenient had the drinker believed it just had healing properties, but any who knew and had not been granted permission from him to gain immortality, would be stripped of their new powers and immortality, and punished as he saw fit.”

“There is that, but unfortunately there are those who believe that should someone drink from the well, they would then be powerful enough to defend themselves against attack,” Ragnok said.

“They would be a formidable opponent, granted, but they would lack centuries of experience,” Loki pointed out. “And their pride would be a factor in their downfall. Besides, I was under the impression that a mortal trying to reach the Island of Avalon had to complete the ritual to revive Arthur, thus lifting the wards.”

“That is true. And for that they would need a descendant of his with enough magic to fuel the spell. A blood sacrifice.”

“Wouldn’t it be impossible to find that bloodline?” Cassia asked. “Seeing how long ago Arthur lived?”

“Not if generations of a certain family had been searching- which the Dumbledore’s have. And now, Albus Dumbledore has found the one he needs. He just needs to get a hold on them. And he has found the entrance to Avalon, the place where the sacrifice would take place.”

“So, we need to focus on stopping this nutter getting whoever it is that’s descended from Arthur. By the way, this sounds nuts, I mean, I grew up thinking that the tales of Arthur and Merlin were just legends,” Bruce said.

Ragnok shook his head. “It is not a legend. Fortunately, we goblins have also been searching, and we believe we have also found the descendent of Arthur.”

“They’d have to be a witch or wizard though, right?” Hermione asked. “There needs to be magic in their blood.” She glanced quickly at Cassia, worried that she knew where this was going.

“You are very right. But we need to be sure however. Could I impose on you to have a blood sample to test, Miss Granger?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What did you think?


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Cassia tensed up. Hermione? She felt the growl build up in the back of her throat before she heard it. The bastard wanted to kill Hermione? Hermione placed her hand on Cassia’s arm, calming her slightly, only for the younger woman to move in for a hug, her head rubbing slightly against her neck, in a reminiscent manner of a cat.

Hermione held out her hand and Ragnok pricked her finger with a small blade, before pressing her bleeding finger down on a piece of black parchment, which began to glow. “Locate a direct lineage to Arthur Pendragon, King of Camelot,” Ragnok said to the glowing parchment. The blood began to expand, etching out a family tree of members, through Emma’s side, all the way up to one final name- Arthur Pendragon. By the time his name appeared, the parchment had expanded also. “Had you not been related to him, nothing would have happened, but this confirms our suspicions.”

“And Dumbledore knows?” Steve asked.

“I believe he does.”

“That night he and the order turned up, he was adamant that both Cassia _and_ Hermione come with him,” Tony pointed out. “Surely, if he wanted to simply end their relationship, he’d have thought it was easier to just try and take Cassia.”

“So he knows,” Thor nodded. “We will need to put a stop to his plans. Permanently.”

“He is too big a threat, we know this. We have known this since we first heard of his schemes. But I do not think taking him out straight away will necessarily work,” Sif said.

“She’s right, we need to remove his support base, and then take him out- not create a martyr for the wizards,” Natasha added.

“I never said we should,” Thor replied. “I just want to have some sort of plan.”

“Right now, I would guess that many in the wizarding world will be too afraid to come near any of you, let alone Cassia or Hermione, if they suspect the Winter Soldier would be protecting them,” Ragnok pointed out, grinning. “Your plan for dealing with the Wizengamot was a stroke of genius, so for now that will push them off your back and allow the muggles some time to prepare before the wizards start to get brave.”

“He’s right,” Bucky said. “There’s already a plan being constructed to deal with at least the British wizards.”

“SHIELD and the American government won’t stand idly by either. Something similar _will_ be taking place back home,” Natasha added.  

“Other non-humans and of course those with non-magical backgrounds will notice the increase in hostility. I know of the machine you are building to locate magic, but could I suggest using it to find those who may be willing to fight and setting up forces able to help combat the wizarding forces?” Ragnok said.

“We were planning on suggesting it to SHIELD,” Clint nodded.

Ragnok grinned, nodding. “Good. Now, I have a couple of people who want to speak to Lady Potter and Miss Granger.”

With that, the door opened, and a large figure loomed in the doorway, stooping to get inside. “HAGRID!” With that war cry, Cassia launched herself at the Half-Giant and the Avenger’s relaxed at the intimidating figure.

“Cassia! Well aren’t you a sight fer sore eyes!” She was enveloped in a bone crushing hug, for a few moments, before he released her and caught Hermione in a hug too. “And Hermione! It’s good to see yeh! It’s good to know both of yeh’s are safe and sound. Now, I really shouldn’t be hogging all the attention.”

Hagrid stepped out of the way, letting Remus into the room, followed by Fleur Delacour and surprisingly, Bill Weasley. Remus let out a sigh of relief. “I can’t tell you how relieved I am that you’re both alri-” Remus’ sentence cut off as he noticed Bucky as he drew both girls into a hug.

“Remus, it’s alright, that’s Bucky,” Cassia said, as she pulled back and lifted her sleeve and showed him Bucky’s full name on her wrist.

“Only you two could be bonded with ze Winter Soldier,” Fleur said, hugging both past Hogwarts Students. “Honestly, what am I to do wiz you both?”

“Just go with the flow. It’s just easier Fleur,” Cassia said.

“I suppose… yet again, you have never been normal Cassia. But it ees never boring wiz you around.”

Cassia smiled and nodded. Then she turned to Bill, looking at him wearily. “Bill,” she greeted.

“Give me one good reason not to curse you now?” Hermione asked Bill, hand on her wand.

“Because until I was brought in for questioning by my superiors here, I had no idea that my family, or some of them had been stealing from and plotting against Cassia. They owe her two life debts, and they repay her by stealing from her? I told my parents where to shove it and moved into the curse breakers wing here at the bank, with Fleur. We’re still getting married. Despite the state things are getting to in the wizarding world.”

“Am I missing something here?” Tony asked.

“Fleur’s part Veela, Tony,” Hermione explained. “As far as I know, not on the slavers’ list yet, but still looked down on. And Bill here is the eldest child of the Weasley family.”

“How do we know you speak the truth, mortal?” Sif asked. “You could be a part of the plot still, except for your word.”

“We had Curse breaker Weasley tested under truth potion. He was given the dose of Vertaserum after two days in solitary confinement to ensure he did not have the antidote in his system,” Ragnok answered Sif.

“I don’t know about the twins or Charlie, but I’m on your side, Cassia. Ron and Ginny stood firmly behind my parents I’m afraid, and Percy’s in the Ministries pocket. If you ever need anything I can get for you, then just say the word, I won’t let you down. Either of you. You’re better friends than my family deserved.”

“Thank you Bill,” Cassia nodded.

“We’re being a bit rude, Cassia,” Hermione pointed out. Cassia nodded and motioned to her to conduct the introductions. “Well, as you all know, this is Bill Weasley, then Fleur Delacour, who we met in our fourth year and was another of the Tri-Wizard champions, and who became a friend of ours throughout that year. Then, Remus Lupin, who’s an old friend of Cassia’s parents and Rubeus Hagrid, Care of Magical Creatures teacher.”

“Ex teacher Hermione. I quit.”

“Ex teacher then. Everyone, these are our soulmates, Thor and Loki Odinson, Sif Tyrdottir, James Buchanan Barnes,”

“Call me Bucky,” He said.

“Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanov, Clint Barton, Pepper Potts, Tony Stark, Bruce Banner and Jane Foster,” Hermione continued.

“I’d say it’s nice to meet you, but I have a feeling that James would start haunting me if I let you all off that easily,” Remus said.

“Moony, don’t you dare,” Cassia growled.

“Sirius and I took a vow Cassia. The day you were born, we promised to help your father make their lives,” he motioned to the large group. “Hell, up until we were sure they wouldn’t hurt you.”

“If you try anything, I will send you to meet back up with my dad and Sirius.”

“I can’t promise anything,” Remus said, a glint of mischief in his eyes.

“Remus,” Cassia growled, “if it weren’t for them, I’d have a bit of Voldemort’s soul stuck in my head still. And they’re protecting me and Hermione too. You should have seen the looks on the Wizengamot’s faces when they saw Bucky. He almost started a riot in the chamber.”

“I bet he did,” Hagrid laughed. “I would ‘ave loved to see it. What’s this about You-Know-Who’s soul now?”

“That’s a long story Hagrid. Best left for another time,” Hermione said, remembering Hagrid’s terrible ability to keep secrets.

“Alright then,” He turned to look at the others who were still sat down. “And, just so you know, if either of these two girls get hurt, I’ll be holding all of yeh responsible.”

“If I may, the bond between them is no longer dormant,” Ragnok said, speaking up. “Should anything happen, they would regret it anyway.”

“WHAT?” Remus yelled.

“It was completely accidental,” Loki said. “Our magic played up. But this is not the problem at the moment. The problem is keeping Dumbledore away from both Cassia and Hermione. It is pretty certain he plans for both of them to die at some point, so your input would be appreciated.”

“I think we can come up with a few ideas and in the meantime there are wards,” Bill said. “Just give me some time to put them in place around wherever you spend the most time.”

“That would be Avengers Tower,” Natasha said.

“I can have a complex ward scheme set up, so long as an acceptable deal is made with my employers, of course.”

“Add that on to my own protection spells and Anthony’s extensive technological protections, then the tower should become quite the fortress,” Loki said before turning to the goblin. “Should we agree on a price then?”  

* * *

 

They wanted to shake off any wizards who were attempting to follow them before going back, and also give Bill, Fleur, Remus and the team of goblins a chance to set up the ward schematics. So, they travelled first to Potter Manor, so they were nearer where one of the new orphanages was going to be- a good thing as Cassia was asked to go to various meetings on it and for her input on how the manor, only half the size of her ancestral home, should be decorated and furnished. She insisted on a library and a computer room, and only the best furnishings, helping with the funding’s for the decorations. As it was near opening, she was asked to lead a film crew round the house, showing it off to them and explaining everything- something which would be shown on the evening news. She’d been nervous about it, but her soul mates had prompted her to do it, as it would start the ball rolling for revenge on the Dursley’s. Of course, the interviewer asked why she had donated the building to become an orphanage, and insisted, even digging into her own pocket to provide for, more expensive, up market furnishings and electronics. She explained that she’d had a hard childhood, and didn’t want that for any other orphan, instead wanted to try and give them a stable and nurturing home- something she’d always wished for. After that, Tony kept an eye on the news and on (hacked) CCTV footage, for anything on the Dursley’s. Problems were starting to arise. Damage was done to their car, their lawn and flowerbeds were fouled up, and Vernon even lost his job.

However, that wouldn’t be enough of a punishment. Natasha managed to call in a SHIELD doctor that they knew could be trusted. Fury himself had vetted Doctor Jemma Simmons. She began by giving Cassia a routine check-up, quickly noting down the general signs of a prolonged exposure to earlier malnourishment as a child. While looking at and photographing the scars that not even Hermione had seen all of and looking at the x-ray results, she let out several shaky breaths.

“You have some really severe damage done to you, Lady Potter. It’s equivalent to some of the more experienced field officers. When these results are processed, should you want to prosecute, you will have a very strong case.”

“Thank you, Doctor Simmons.”

“If I may ask a question?”

“Shoot.”

“Does anyone else, bar myself, know the full extent of your injuries?”

Cassia hesitated, before she shook her head. “But not all of it is from my relatives. You’ve been told what I am right?”

“Of course.”

“Well, this is from a thousand year old basilisk,” she pointed to the crook of her right arm and the scar there, then moved to the long one below it. “That’s from a knife wound during a ritual I was an unwilling participant in,” then she moved to her left shoulder and the massive scar there. “That’s from a nesting mother dragon who I pissed off because I had to get a golden egg out of her nest of normal eggs for a stupid tournament.”

Doctor Simmons made note of the different reasons for those particular wounds. They were as bad as the scars from the belt and buckle. “Even still, it may do you good to let them know of your wounds full extent. Someone else could help. If you want some time, while psychology is not my field of expertise, I’m sure we could exchange phone numbers and email addresses and you can talk to me, seeing as I know about all your wounds. You have told me about all of them, yes?”

“Yes, Doctor Simmons. You have seen, photographed, noted and filed away each scar on my body. Let it be known I’m only doing this because I was convinced it was the best way to help get my own back for these wounds.”

“Duly noted, Lady Potter.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you think?


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Thailand was a beautiful country- truly stunning, Cassia thought. They had decided to visit a few places in order to give Bill and his team time to finish their work on the tower. Plus, Tony had declared that Cassia was woefully ignorant of holiday experiences- something which needed to be corrected immediately. They barely had any time for relaxing, which was fine by both Cassia and Hermione. Both of them were the type to want to keep busy. So, when the others wanted to do something, they joined in wholeheartedly, making the most of their experience. And of course, the others ensured the two girls got to pick activities for them all to do. It would help them adjust after all. As for Dan and Emma, they stated to feel their worries about the whole situation slowly melting away. It was obvious that Hermione and Cassia were in no danger of being used by any of the others. In fact, the only danger they could face was being smothered. They both saw how protective the group were over their two youngest partners and could see that they would only be there in a way that both girls were comfortable with. If that was just friends, then so be it. It did not stop the rest of them with their relationships, and it was easy for the two parents to see that when both their daughters were older and more comfortable, they would fully embrace all sides to the bond, just as the others had. It would just take time.

It had been on the last night when all hell very nearly broke loose. They had gone out for food, but Clint had been late to join them, needing to make a report to Fury. The Avengers being 'on holiday' for so long apparently made him nervous. Not just about attacks, but about what they could get up to while unsupervised. So, Clint and Natasha had to send in regular updates informing him that, yes they were still reachable in an emergency and no, they had not blown up any cities or populated areas of any sort. The door to the restaurant had opened and a breeze came in, allowing Cassia's sensitive sense of scent to pick up on the smell of what her instincts told her was another neko, as well as a frustrated and annoyed Clint. Not realising she'd let out a slight growl, she got up and followed the scent outside. The girl was obviously trying to come onto Clint and rub herself all over him, while he tried to push her away.

Cassia's growl was louder this time, and both turned to look. Before they had fully turned however, she had moved and was right beside them, hissing.

The strange neko hissed right back. Clint worked his way between them. "Cassia, calm down, I can handle this," Clint said in a low tone, eyes darting round. No one had yet to take notice of them, thankfully. The last thing they wanted was for any slavers to pick up that Cassia was here and a neko. Or even, if his hunch was right, the other neko. What awaited captured Neko's and other magical creatures was not a fate he would wish on anyone. Not even this unwelcome advancer.

Cassia moved closer to him, so her own scent rubbed off on him, to try and combat the scent of the intruder. "Uh oh," he muttered, before sending a thought to the others. _"I think Cassia's instincts are taking over here."_ He was completely at a loss for how to control Cassia if her instincts did take over, and he ended up having a raging cat girl on his hands. So, it was time to call for back up before it even came to that.

It wasn't even a minute later that Sif came out and pushed the strange girl back, explaining to her harshly to leave before any trouble was caused and that none of them wanted to attract wizarding attention. She shot a baleful look at Clint.

"See you some other time then, handsome?"

Cassia lunged, and only Clint's quick reflexes saved her. "I highly doubt that," He said, over the struggling Cassia. The stranger walked off, with a parting hiss at Cassia, and Clint was sure to tighten his hold on Cassia until the girl was out of sight. She was still growling slightly. This was only the second real indication that Cassia had instincts to go along with the cat features, the first being in Gringotts when they discovered Dumbledore planned to kill Hermione. The problem here was, this was a far more public area and it could cause serious problems if she was seen.

"Ok, this is not good. Come on Kitten," Clint said gently. "Let's go back inside and have food. Forget her."

Sif placed her arm over Cassia's shoulders. "Yes, he is right. Put her out of your mind. Come, the others are worried."

Cassia shook her head, feeling as if a fog had lifted. It had felt as if she was taking the backseat to an animalistic personality who had wanted to defend its territory. The idea that another part of her could take control at the slightest provocation worried her. If she didn't gain control of that, she could reveal herself- at a really inopportune moment. She needed to talk to Bruce later.

"Meditation might help," Bruce said, when they were back in the hotel. "It's helped me keep control of my temper several times. We could start with that, if you'd like?"

"That would be wonderful Bruce, thank you," Cassia said, smiling at him. She still could not believe she had embarrassed herself like she had. Tony had joked about getting her a collar. One that read 'if lost, please return to Stark Tower' or something along those lines. Even she'd had to laugh at that one.

When they had arrived back in New York, the first thing Loki had done was go and check the new ward scheme. He then had Hermione and Cassia follow him to where the central ward stone had been placed. "You should have a basic understanding of at least how to detect wards and what types they are. If you have not been taught this already, then I will teach you, and also teach you how to make your own. Have you had any instruction in this area?"

"No. We took Ancient runes, but nothing indicating how to detect wards and differentiate between them," Hermione answered.

He sighed. "This was one of the first things I learnt. Where your teachers priorities lay I do not know. So, we will start from the beginning. You sense the magic around the stone, yes?"

"Yes," they both answered, nodding.

"And you know what these runes stand for?" He gestured to the runes engraved on the stone. Both girls nodded again.

"Then, the next step will be to develop your sense for magic. You can already feel the magic around you, you just need to expand on that."

That night, Cassia was exhausted. She had no idea that trying to extend her magic in an attempt to get a feel for other magic could be so difficult. "Unfortunately, mortal magic users seem to have forgotten this is actually easier and less tiring to master for beginners. Before much formal instruction begins, your magic is used to acting purely on instinct and will. As instruction progresses, practitioners become more entrenched in methods, and reliant on spell structures. You have built up walls- walls you need to tear down. You will find a lot of magic becomes easier without the guidelines that have been imposed on you throughout your schooling."

"But aren't the guidelines necessary?" Hermione asked. She was slumped on the sofa, just as tired as Cassia, who was stretched out across it, her head resting in Hermione's lap. Loki was sat on the sofa opposite them.

He shook his head. With a mere flick of his wrist, the coffee table turned into a goat. Another one turned it back. "Did I use a recognised spell or wand movement, Hermione?"

"You have different magic though!"

"Different? Or older and more powerful? Magic is the same force, Hermione. Imagine it as if it were a tree. One branch may be thicker or thinner, shorter or longer, than others. But it is all part of the same tree, is it not? My magic is naturally more powerful than yours was, and obviously it is older, but it is the same thing in effect. The same methods can be used by the three of us. Granted, perhaps not to the same effect, considering how long I have been using mine compared to you, but it is possible."

"Was?" Cassia asked.

He smiled. "We are bonded. That was bound to have an effect on all of us. It has been documented that a mortal soul bonding with an immortal will gain their bonded's immortality. You may not feel it, but you are growing in strength. Physically and magically. Your life forces are extending to meet that of myself, Thor and Sif. It will take time for these changes to be noticeable, but it began the moment the bond activated itself. Your magic's strength is the most noticeable difference. After all, what would be the point of an immortal's soulmate being mortal, and then them bonding, only for the one to lose the other after only a handful of years?"

"I never thought about that," Cassia said.

"Neither did I," Hermione admitted. "Thinking about it, I wasn't even sure what was going to happen. I think part of it was just me being too afraid to ask."

"And it was very easy to forget that only three of us have been raised with this knowledge. The people of this realm are still trying to understand what it means. We will have to all talk about this, what is actually known about the bond and what is not. It seems there are still things about the bond that need to be learnt. It is made much more complicated due to the fact that we are the first to have such a… complex bond, shall we say?"

Hermione and Cassia smiled. "That's probably a good idea," Hermione said, nodding as she curled a lock of Cassia's hair around her finger.

"Now, where were we? Ah yes, your magic. May I suggest, that from now on, when you have a lesson from me, you try and put aside everything you have been previously taught by your mortal instructors? Anything I have already taught you, should be fine, but this method is a far more effective one. Trust me."

Cassia groaned as she watched Hermione frown. She knew Hermione had a thing about theory, so this was going to be hard on her. She pulled her down to her and kissed her. "If he's going to be teaching us, you may as well listen, Mione. It'll make it easier for both of us in the long run."

* * *

Two weeks. Two weeks of workmen who had all signed a confidentiality agreement that Tony and Loki had worked out together heading through the penthouse and up to what was presumably an empty attic between the top floor and the roof and making a hell of a noise. Cassia had a headache the whole time, thanks to the drill sounds and the loud chatter that her incredibly sensitive years easily picked up on. And she had believed she had gotten used to the heightened senses that being part cat had come with. Apparently not.

"What are you having done up there, Tony? Cassia can hardly stay in the Tower. As it is she's already gone to see most of the films showing in the cinema, and walked what has to be most of Central Park, just to get away from the noise," Pepper pointed out. "Jane and Bruce can hardly focus on their work and Clint and Natasha have opted to give new agents extra training on the Hellicarrier while staying there to get away from the noise."

"It'll be done soon," Tony assured. "And it's a surprise. Everyone will love it. Trust me."

Pepper had no luck getting the answer out of either him or Loki, who was the only other one in on the project. And they could all see that a lot of the workers were highly curious as to what was going on in the tower. It had even been discussed one evening after the workers had finished for the night that Cassia, Hermione and the Grangers should possibly head to Asgard with Thor and Sif, to ensure the workers were kept completely in the dark. It was decided that it would only come to that if necessary. A statement had been released by one of Tony's lawyers that Hermione and Cassia were being tutored in magic by Loki, which is why they were there, and of course, due to them being underage, they had their own apartment in the Tower where Hermione's parents stayed as well, giving parental consent to their tutelage, and removing any chances of accusations of inappropriate behaviour to two minors. It may have bent the truth, but there was truth there, and none of them did have any intention of doing anything that could be construed as 'taking advantage' of Hermione and Cassia. They were still young and definitely not ready for that yet.

Finally, the day came when Cassia was not woken up by the sound of drills screeching, or heavy work boots stomping overhead. She sat up, listening carefully, but got no hint of anyone being upstairs except for the Avengers themselves. Hermione rolled over beside her. "Cassia, what is it?" she asked sleepily. She reached up to lightly rub Cassia's back.

"I don't think the workers turned up today. Which means they finished yesterday, before we got back." They had spent the day exploring New York, before eating dinner out and catching a show on Broadway.

"Well, at least it'll be quiet. Come on, let's get a few more minutes sleep yeah? We can check out what they were doing later."

It was two hours before they made their way up to the penthouse, where the others were already up and doing their own things. Natasha and Clint were back as well.

"Right! Now everyone's here, you can see what I had done!" Tony said, leading them to the newly installed, but open, door and staircase that was behind it. As they all followed him, Cassia and Hermione sensed the magic as they stepped through the door. For some reason, this area had been granted extra protections. Another layer of defence. They had learnt enough to get a feel of other magic types. Whether they were defensive, offensive, harmful or beneficial. Other than that, they had made no progress, but the magic was completely protective. And powerful, which meant it had been placed by Loki. The room at the top of the stairs was huge. One wall was taken up by a giant screen, obviously there as a form of cinema. The other walls were cream, but it was the floor that caught everyone's attention. There was a platform area around the room, which was wood, about an inch high. The inch below it was not so much floor, as giant mattress. It was a mass of white comfort, with blankets and pillows stacked in the far corner, ready for use. It was as if the floor was one big bed.

"I thought the night back in the hotel was great. We were all together at one point and able to get to know each other better. So, the idea of this was born. Plus, we can have movie nights without having to worry about falling asleep and waking up with a stiff neck!" Tony said.

"In the betting pool, did anyone bet on this?" Thor asked.

"No, I don't think they did," Bruce answered.

"So, everyone gets their money back then," Steve said, looking at Natasha, who nodded.

"Tony, why couldn't you have built a damn games room?" Bucky asked disgruntled.

Tony grinned. "Because I already have three here."

"What are the magical protections for?" Hermione asked.

"We have powerful enemies," Loki answered. "Ones you are not yet prepared to face. Until you can defend yourselves properly, if there's an attack on the Tower, you need to get in here, and close the door behind you, immediately. Once it is closed, only someone from inside, or someone who is registered outside can open it. A magical scan and a biological one plus a password will ensure the person's identity, and allow the door to open. When it is shut, it will seem to be a part of the wall."

"Everyone will need to choose a password, but everything else has been handled," Tony said.

"If we're attacked, I'm not going to hide!" Cassia protested.

"Me neither," Hermione agreed.

"It is only until you have learnt enough to be able to fight without being too badly injured. We will worry enough without having to worry about you fighting while not being able to adequately defend yourselves." Loki said.

"He's right," Bucky said. "This isn't about hiding. This is about you learning so you don't have to hide. Right now, if it came to a fight, we'd be trying to protect you, instead of concentrating on taking down the enemy. You'll learn, quickly enough, but until then we don't want you anywhere near a serious confrontation. We just don't want you getting hurt."

They could see the logic in that. While the idea of not helping in a fight grated on both of them, they understood that once they had been trained, the others would let them help. As it was, this was no doubt a massive compromise for them. They all felt the two had been through too much already and as such should be kept out of any warlike situations. That they were willing to train them to be good enough to survive and then help out, while only asking they stay in a safe place until that time was a decent enough compromise. With that, they both agreed. If anything or anyone attacked the Tower, they would get to this room, knowing they would not be alone. Dan and Emma, as well as Jane and Pepper, would also be joining them in that situation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please review!


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing!

"Alright, let's start airing his dirty laundry," Tony said, sitting down at the laptop.

"Need any help?"

Tony looked up and grinned at Jane. Jane was surprisingly good with computers and getting into places she should not be. Her help here would be an amazing bonus.

"Yep, I was going to look into Vernon and Petunia Dursley first, and then into Marge Dursley, but if you take her, and I take them, we'll get this done quicker. Get into her accounts, find anything even remotely scandalous, and make sure it reaches people in her area, and also save it. We can send it to the appropriate authorities later. Let's make them suffer first."

Jane smiled. It was almost innocent, except he could see the glint in her eye. Marge Dursley should be very afraid. "Will do," she grabbed her own laptop and set up, and they got to work in silence.

Tony quickly got into Vernon Dursley's bank records and picked up on several discrepancies. He noticed the money coming into his account from an unknown source and quickly deduced this was the money from Cassia's accounts. That it stopped after her seventeenth was another big indicator. There were other transactions too. "It seems Vernon was doing some under the table deals and corner cutting to further his own gains and bring in more money," Tony said out loud as he followed some of the trails. "Some of this production is unsafe," he said, looking at plans and designs. "I'm going to have to tip off the company to this as well as people in general. Probably the police too." He may have already lost his job, but the things Dursley had worked on were still in circulation.

"His sister is as mean as we thought," Jane said, feeling sick. "I've just found a video stash of hers that was on her computer. It seems that when she breeds her dogs, she keeps some and trains them to be vicious. Then, in each litter, she gets the smallest, the runt, and has the older dogs rip them apart," Jane was feeling very ill. Those dogs were innocent, and she was doing that to them. She was amazed Cassia had turned out to be such a nice person with the Dursley's constantly berating her. And her treatment was just as vicious as Marge's was of the dogs, going on the memory they had all seen.

"Is it identifiable as her?" Tony asked.

"Yes," Jane nodded.

"Send it to the police, then make sure word about it gets around, not just in her community, but everywhere. There shouldn't be anywhere for these bastards to hide."

"Is there anything I can do?" They looked up to see Cassia, her tail flicking agitatedly. Her ears were practically flat to her head and they could see her nerves and feel her uncertainty. "I want to see them go down, probably more than any of you do."

"There's no probably about it," Jane said, standing up and heading over to her to hug her. "I'm sure we can think of a few things- Tony?"

"Perhaps we should continue this in the same vein as the Orphanage thing. It headlined British news, and everyone knew you had a less than satisfactory childhood, which was why you helped set up the orphanages. It earned you a lot of sympathy and praise. And there was a lot of curiosity, about your background and about what you would do next."

"Are you saying I should set up another orphanage?"

"No, I'm saying you should start a charity. If we both place some money into a fund, it can be used to set up centres in Britain and America to start with where kids who are in a threatening environment can escape for help. It can even just be somewhere they can go for a little while for a few hours of safety if they aren't ready to talk about what they're going through just yet," Tony said.

"That's a brilliant idea," Jane looked to the billionaire.

"Yeah, it is," Cassia said smiling.

"That's actually the easy part. The charity will need a spokesperson. Who better than you? People will respond more to someone who has been in that situation. You may need to let out more details about your past though, for it to be successful."

Cassia sat down, nibbling on her lip. "I don't know about that part… I'd need time to think about it."

Jane put her arm around Cassia's shoulders. "That's completely fine. And you don't have to do this if you don't want to. Just what's comfortable for you. And you can talk to us about anything as well, you know that."

* * *

Two months later, they were back in Britain. The government wanted to throw the wizarding world into disarray. They wanted them off track, and they had thought of something which would kick the wizards where it hurt- outing them to the rest of the world. Cassia had, after much talk about it and deliberation, agreed to Tony's plan, and agreed to be the one to out the wizarding world as well.

The interview was going to be recorded and then edited to fit a twenty minute slot that evening for a special broadcast before the news, with just about the whole thing going up on the internet afterwards.

The room the interview was scheduled to take place in was a large one, and not just for the sake of the cameras. All her soul mates as well as Dan and Emma had insisted on being there for the interview, but they would be out of the camera's sights. Cassia was incredibly glad of that, she needed their support for this. It had taken weeks for her to say yes to this, but she knew it had to be done. And there were plenty of people who they had found hiding from the wizards who were too afraid to do anything. She had to convince them to help themselves, by taking up the offer by SHIELD and the British and American governments to either place them in safe houses or train them up to fight alongside their teams that were training for the assault that was being planned.

A man in a blue suit with brown, receding hair stepped into the room. Cassia felt a vague recognition upon seeing him. He soon introduced himself to her. "Lady Potter, I'm Andrew Marr, I'll be conducting the interview today," he said, holding out his hand.

She shook it, recognising him after seeing him several times on the Dursley's TV screens now. Cassia gave a small smile, trying not to shrink into Hermione or Bruce. "Pleasure to meet you." The journalist then introduced himself to the others, shaking their hands in turn and Cassia thought he seemed to be restraining himself from interrogating everyone in the room. It was not every day that a journalist was in such close contact with all the Avengers, and was about to interview someone who was living with them. She was sure this was just instinct for the man by now.

They both took their seats and the director began issuing some final orders to get ready to film. Hermione noticed Cassia was biting her lower lip. Frowning, she sent reassurances across the bond and Cassia stopped the nervous twitch, sending her a quick, small, smile. Suddenly, the director gave the signal that they were recording.

"Lady Potter, I'd like to thank you for coming here today, I know this is a very hard thing for you to do. Today's news revealed a secret society to the world, one which has been hidden alongside ours for centuries and contains witches, wizards and a variety of magical creatures. Having been a part of it since you were eleven, and being born to parents who were a part of it, could you tell us a bit about it?"

"The first thing to know about the Wizarding World, and this is really important, is that it is a highly… stubborn society," Cassia began, her head cocking to the side slightly as she assessed the man across from her and considered her answer. "For centuries, the wizards and witches have believed they have reached the best state their society can reach. They use owls to deliver mail, old fashioned flame torches and candles for lighting and the like. They also believe themselves to be superior to those without magic and to those with magic who are not human. It is a very prejudiced society. So much so that any technology that worms its way into the wizarding world is passed off as a completely new invention by one of their enchanters. It is very stagnant. I won't deny it has its wonders and a fair few open minded people, but they are currently in the minority from what I can see."

"When you say open minded people are in the minority, what do you mean by that?"

"I mean the Wizarding World condones slavery. In fact, there are many sentient magical creatures who think, feel, communicate just like you and I. Well, perhaps they talk a little differently in some cases, and in others look a lot different, but it's no different than saying one human is the property of another," Cassia was getting riled up as she went on, her tone getting angrier, her posture stiffer. You'd have to be completely oblivious not to notice. Perhaps even not then. Marr certainly picked up on it.

"I can see this is a very sensitive issue for you. Do you know anyone who is affected by this?"

Cassia nodded, taking a deep breath as she did so, eyes closed for a moment. "I grew up, hoping to one day find somewhere I could belong. It certainly wasn't with my relatives. At eleven, I found I was a witch. Soon after I began attending Hogwarts School, I discovered how corrupt and backwards the society really was. I'd made friends with a first generation witch, Hermione Granger. Together, when we were researching in the library, we found a law book. It was a list of magical creatures that were all available to be enslaved and sold off. After some further research, we found most of these creatures were sentient. We were horrified. But it didn't affect us, or so we thought. On my seventeenth, I woke up to a shock. I had a whole new set of features I didn't have before," Cassia said, before taking a deep breath. She waved her hand, and her glamour disappeared. She saw Marr start, and his eyes widened slightly. "I am what is known as a Neko. So was my mother, who was adopted by the non-magical human family she was raised by. A time delayed letter explained to me what I was, and that she'd placed a charm on me to hide everything until I was seventeen and able to hide myself. Luckily, the Grangers and I were out of the country at the time. We knew we wouldn't be able to go anywhere near the wizarding world alone. And not with me like this. Anyone who saw me would call in slavers. I'd have a collar round my neck before I could even cast a shield charm. So we left for America."

"And ended up living with the Avengers?"

This was where the carefully constructed lie came into place. "Yes. On the way, we found Bucky Barnes, who hadn't long recovered his memories from his past as a Howling Commando. He contacted Steve, and we were introduced to everyone. It was Loki who noticed the magic Hermione and I had. He offered to tutor us. Since going back to school wasn't really an option, and he's the god of magic, we accepted."

"What's that been like then, for you?"

"Different. Very different. No one on the team is the same as the others, so they already learnt to accept and work with each other, despite their differences. Hermione and I were accepted really quickly. It's not really something I'm used to. In fact, they all got pretty angry over the state of the wizarding world. Through them, SHIELD and several governments are getting involved. We're looking now, actively, to help others like me, or like Hermione, first generations and creatures, who the wizarding world threatens. If I didn't feel safe enough, I would never have revealed what I was so publically."

"Is this a call for them to come forward?"

"Yes. They don't need to do it publically like I have. They just need to know they can and will be protected and hidden from the wizards. We all want to end everything they have done, but we want to get as many civilians out of the firing line as we can."

"If you don't mind, I'd like to move onto your past a bit now. This isn't the first venture into helping innocents, is it?"

"No. Two of the properties I own have been turned into orphanages. I understand they are doing well."

"You said in the interview about their opening, that you did not want others to grow up like you did. What did you mean by that?"

"Hate of things that are different is not something limited to wizards, I'm sure you're aware, Mr. Marr. I grew up with my mother's adoptive sister and her husband and son. They hated magic. With a passion. And because of my magic, they hated me too," Cassia took a deep shuddering breath and felt reassurances coming from all her soulmates. "Until I was eleven, my bedroom was the cupboard under the stairs. All the time growing up there, they told people I was some hooligan. A wild child they should be wary of. And they all believed. It was a lonely childhood. Very lonely. The only comfort I had was that someday in the future, I would be able to leave and never go back again. I hope they see this. I do. I hope they see that I'm better than they ever thought I could be. And I hope anyone who is being hurt in anyway by anyone else who should love them, sees it too. It's not right, for your family to hate you, or cause you pain. It's why I helped set up those orphanages. And it's why, with the help of Tony Stark, I'm setting up a fund for children and teenagers to organise centres for them to go to if they have nowhere else, or if they want a chance to get away, if only for a short while. The staff will be fully trained and vetted. All to take care of them."

Marr asked her several other filler questions, which would be edited into the compilation, and some of them just posted somewhere else on the internet, or as a highlight as a clip for news programs to use later. Cassia was glad when the interview was done, but felt a lot lighter than she had done before. However, they were not finished. They were all driven out to the house near her main property, where the first of the children had already settled in. She was filmed interacting with them generally by playing a couple of games with them, and over homework, as they explained to her what they were doing and about their schooling.

"What are you doing?" She asked a seven year old boy with short brown hair.

"Maths. Addition," he said, looking up at her.

"Do you enjoy it?"

"Not really," he said, frowning, his brown eyes watching her carefully.

"What do you enjoy doing?"

"Art, but my friends all say that's a girly thing to do."

"Art isn't girly. Anyone who enjoys it can do it. Some of the best artists were men," Cassia said, before looking round, and she motioned to Steve, knowing this would be a great opportunity. "Steve enjoys drawing. I'm awful at it, but he'd be good for you to talk to about art."

Steve was grinning as he realised what she was doing. As the director of the camera crew also realised what she was up to, he motioned for the others to begin interacting with the children as well. This would be something other reporters would salivate over. Cassia just hoped it lessened the blows the other news footage could bring.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: What do you think? I know it's odd to have her reveal her past on air, but I thought, it was nothing she's not already revealed to Hermione, Jane, Pepper and the Avengers and she wants some revenge too. Revealing herself is purely strategic. Throw a spanner in the works for the wizards as it were, with their saviour being something they enslave, so they concentrate on her, and anyone 'disappearing' and not muggles gearing up for a fight. She knows the others will protect her and any fellow Neko's who come to SHIELD will be protected too.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing!

“We have to deal with this problem now! Bring the muggles to heal before they get any idea that they are better than us!” A member of the Wizengamot called out. 

“I believe we can afford to ignore the muggles for now,” Dumbledore said. “In a way, at least. There is no need to attack them just yet. They want to protect creatures from being put into their rightful places. I suggest we focus our attention in foiling their abilities to protect creatures. Show them their inabilities to stand against us by making them fail.” 

“And what of Potter?” Fudge asked. “Now she has revealed her true nature?” 

“Unfortunately, we cannot do what we would have before, which would have been confiscating the Potter family fortune and spreading it between ourselves, before enslaving her. The fortune is lost to us. But, with some work, placing her in a collar is not beyond our powers. I suggest an elite team be trained especially to capture her, and have some ordinary slavers attack while the team is in training. They will be expecting attacks, so a few less powerful ones which will probably be chased off will be good for us. It will lull them into a false sense of security when the attacks stop. They will believe we have given up.” 

“What about the Winter Soldier? Have you forgotten she has him protecting her?” Umbridge asked. 

“We all can make someone look like another. What proof do we have that he is who she claimed him to be? And even if he is, his skills relied on not being anticipated. All his victims were unaware he was coming for them, until he was there. If we reversed the technique on him, no doubt our superior skills as magic users would come into play.” 

There was a murmur rippling through the Wizengamot chamber. That sounded like a reasonable plan. And the chance to own the ‘Girl-Who-Lived’ was rather tempting.

“All in favour of putting together elite teams, the best of which will go after Cassia Potter, and the rest going after creatures on the list, light the tips of your wands white,” Fudge said. Less than a minute later, they had a near unanimous vote. Dumbledore smiled. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

“Where are we going?” 

“To do something fun. We may as well,” Tony shrugged, grinning at Cassia. 

“So far, this week’s been all business, so before we go we may as well do something fun,” Clint told her. 

“That doesn’t really answer my question of where,” Cassia grinned, her ears twitching. Since she had revealed what she was to the world, she stopped hiding her Neko features- something all the others thought was great. Cassia seemed more… herself when not hiding. It felt natural to all of them. 

“Just, trust me, you’ll enjoy it,” Clint said, scratching between her ears, causing her eyes to shut and the purring to begin. 

Steve and Bucky came to stand at either side of Hermione. “She’s come on in leaps and bounds,” Steve said. 

“She’s happier than I’ve ever seen her. This bond is doing her real good. Even with me there, she’s always been alone, isolated, but then we all met, and the bond formed, helping her to realise that she wasn’t. Being able to sense people who are there for her, all day, every day, has allowed her to see there are people who are there for her. Even when she wanders into another room to be ‘alone’ she knows she’s not. She knows she has people who care. For her, that’s the best thing in the world. It’s allowed her to begin to heal.” 

“What about you, doll?” Bucky asked. 

Hermione smiled. “I’m better than I’ve ever been too, but not for the same reason. I just feel safe. At home. Something I haven’t felt really since my first year in Hogwarts, when I began to realise the prejudice of my new world, and that my girlfriend was being targeted by a mass murdering psycho,” she answered, leaning into him, and watching, smiling while Clint moved from causing Cassia to purr, to making her shriek with laughter by tickling her.

“I know what you mean, doll,” Bucky replied. “The bond’s done me a world of good as well. It helped me put my memories in order, and my nightmares have been a lot less than they would have been. I’ve come to terms a lot quicker with what I did, and who I am now, than I would have without it.” 

“In many ways, it’s helped all of us. We knew it was there before, and we acted on the dormant bond, but with the bond being active now, we’re all a lot closer. That’s helped us with a lot of the problems we’ve had. I no longer wake up freezing cold each morning. Bruce I know can communicate with and has better control over the Hulk. He never thought that would be possible.” 

Hermione smiled and nodded. It was known that people who found their soulmates tended to be happier. She just had not anticipated how happy they could be. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Cassia’s eyes were wide and her ears twitched as she looked around at the roller coasters around her. This was only a small section of the theme park as well. Screams of those already on the rides, and excited chatter filled the air. People moved past on their way, children running towards their destinations in excitement. “Ok, this is cool,” She said, reaching out and grabbing Hermione’s and Pepper’s hands, seeing as they were closest to her. She was grinning widely. “Which one do we get to go on first?” 

“Well, I think Air might be the one you’d probably enjoy the most, so why not try that one?” Clint suggested. 

“OK!” She ran off, happily dragging Pepper and Hermione with her. Laughing, the others followed her, as the ball of excitement led the way. Cassia did not manage to calm down until they were having lunch, at which point she’d exerted a lot of energy. Watching her as a ball of joy and excitement made them wonder just how anyone could have hurt her. 

Cassia felt a tug at her tail and looked down to see a two year old boy with brown hair had toddled over and was smiling up at her. “Kitty,” he said, wobbling slightly on his feet as he spoke, resulting on another tug at her tail. Cassia could not help but smile. 

“Hello,” she said to him.

“Kitty,” he said again, just before he was picked up by a woman who could only be his mother. 

“I’m so sorry. He’d slipped away and toddled over before we’d even sat down,” she said, eyes slightly wide in recognition. 

Cassia laughed. “It’s ok. Really.” 

“We’ll leave you to it,” she said, turning and walking away. As she went, her son looked over her shoulder and gave a small wave. 

“Bye Kitty,” he said. 

“Bye,” she said, laughing slightly and waving. 

“You are incredibly good with children,” Natasha said, smiling.

Cassia just shrugged. 

“It’s because she knows, from several sources, what not to do,” Hermione said, taking hold of Cassia’s hand. Cassia leant her head on Hermione’s shoulder, smiling softly. The rest of the day went well, and they headed out of the park and to a farm which specialised in lodges so they only needed two separate places to stay, unlike had they stayed at the hotel. That, however, was when shit hit the fan. 

They had all just piled out of the cars when several ‘cracks’ of apparition sounded around them. There were twenty wizards in total, all with wands drawn. “Well, here’s a good day ruined,” Tony sighed. “And I was looking forward to a quiet night with a film and a couple of whiskeys too.” 

A flash of lightning and the glow of magic saw Thor, Sif and Loki in their armour. Luckily, the group had all discussed an event like this happening. Cassia, Hermione, Jane, Pepper, Emma and Dan moved to the centre of the group, the two witches getting ready to hurl spells if they were needed, and the others drawing guns. It had surprised Hermione and Cassia both when they learnt that Jane and Pepper were always carrying weapons, but their logic was sound. 

“We don’t like feeling helpless either, and while we’d rather not fight, and leave that to the others, we know sometimes we will have to. Better to know some form of defence than nothing and be helpless,” Jane had said. 

“I think we can all guess why you mortals are here, but may I suggest you leave? It would be the wisest course of action should you wish to keep your lives,” Sif said, spinning her sword, drawing out its second blade. 

“Hand the Neko over, and we will spare you,” a wizard snapped back.

Sif raised an eyebrow. “He had to do it,” Cassia muttered, still unable to completely comprehend the stupidity of wizards. Had he not just heard Sif call him and his group mortals? Or did they just think it an intimidation factor? Cassia had gotten to know Sif well enough by now that she knew at least that particular wizard would not leave this encounter alive for that come back. An aspersion on Sif’s skills was liable to get anyone bar their group killed. And none of their group were stupid enough to try and insult her battle skills either. 

“He’s all yours,” Thor said, grinning at her. 

 

While the others closed ranks, the three Asgardians stepped forward. The wizard who had spoken was the first to realise what they had gotten into. Sif lashed out, quicker than a snake, her sword easily making contact with the wizards’ neck. As he crumpled to the ground, Cassia had the morbid thought that Nearly Headless Nick was going to be pissed that someone else was eligible to join the headless hunt, yet he still wasn’t. While she had been thinking that, Thor and Loki had also moved, making quick work of targets of their own, before lightning struck others along with magic and knives and the blade of a sword. Cassia and Hermione had never been more aware of the fact that they would be unable to keep up in a real fight, and in fact even be hindrances. Watching the three tear into the wizards without needing to worry about the protection of others allowed her to see them getting closer to their full potential than Cassia had seen before. And she knew they still were holding back, as they were only fighting mortals. Incompetent ones at that. If they were trying to protect her and Hermione at the same time, this would be taking a lot longer. Someone may even get hurt. One wizard, it seemed, had thought about this outcome however. A blue spell from above, and behind the group struck Cassia and she went down, her vision darkening. With an angry yell, Sif launched herself at the tree, using her momentum to kick off the trunk, levering herself up into the branches. She reached up, grabbed hold of the wizard’s ankle and pulled, dragging him out of the tree and down to the ground, where she drove her sword into the mans’ shoulder. “What spell did you use on Cassia?” she demanded, twisting the blade, making him cry out in pain. 

“Just a specialised sleep spell! It’s targeted at creatures! She’ll wake up! It’s meant to help us catch them by knocking them out and binding their magic long enough to put magic inhibiting cuffs on them! It targets their magic!” 

“It is not permanent though?” 

“No! I swear!” Blood was pouring around the blade and out of the shoulder wound. She yanked the sword out and brought it back down, through his heart, ending his life. As she pulled her sword out once again, the bodies began disappearing. She nodded to Loki as he headed back to the group. Bruce and Hermione were examining Cassia, but the others were scanning the area for more threats. She and Thor joined them, just as Loki began his own examination of Cassia, green magic dancing across her skin. 

“Well?” Sif asked, sheathing her sword, confident there were no more wizards nearby now. 

“The best thing for her is to let it wear off on its own. She needs rest.” 

“I will get her inside,” Sif said, picking her up. Pepper opened the door to their nearest lodge and led Sif to the downstairs bedroom, where she pulled back the covers on the bed. Sif gently placed Cassia down and removed her shoes. Hermione had come in behind her and they both worked Cassia out of her jacket. 

Pepper pulled the covers back over her. “We should let her rest,” she said. 

Sif and Hermione agreed and left the room. Natasha and Clint were missing from the group. “They went to let the managers of this place know what really happened and tell Fury,” Steve told them, reading the question. They were all on edge at the moment, thanks to the fight and the curse. What made it worse was that the only one who had been hit was unresponsive over the bond. They were used to sensing each other’s minds being active, even if they didn’t hear their thoughts, even when asleep. The curse had almost completely cut them off from Cassia, except for the barest of hints.

“Well, they obviously know we are here,” Bucky said, voice a near growl. 

“Well, we’ll be leaving tomorrow anyway,” Emma said, only worrying that Cassia may not get better. 

“There’s still a threat others could turn up tonight,” Bucky told her. “Looking for their friends.” 

“Cassia needs to rest,” Loki said. “Normally Hermione and Cassia share a room, I suggest, for tonight, someone else sleeps with Cassia, and to keep any wizards at bay should they attack, while Hermione sleeps with someone else for the same reason. Pepper and Jane too.” 

Hermione nodded. “That’s a good idea. For tonight at least.” 

“It’s not a good idea to stay longer than tonight,” Steve said. 

“She should wake up by tomorrow,” Loki told them. 

“If not, we’ll come up with something to make travelling easier on her while she recovers,” Bruce added. 

When Natasha and Clint returned, a take away was ordered and they ate, before dividing up between the two lodges and heading for bed, even though they all knew they would sleep very lightly that night, all of them on guard for attack. 

The next morning was growing late when Cassia began stirring. She opened her eyes, blinking away the bleariness and searching for Hermione’s familiar scent. It was a lot fainter than normal, replaced by Sif’s scent instead. The rest of the bed was empty and cold, however, telling her it had been a couple of hours since she’d had company. She sat up, feeling nausea wash through her. Cassia stilled, feeling not just the nausea but her magic rushing through her, as if it had just been released. Cassia groaned and the door opened, and Hermione poked her head round. 

“Morning, how are you feeling?”

“Like hell,” Cassia moaned. 

Hermione came in, followed by Loki. “That is to be expected, I am afraid,” Loki told her. 

“What happened?” 

“A wizard got in a lucky shot with a spell designed to temporarily bind your magic, while knocking you out,” Hermione explained. 

Cassia felt the spell Loki cast on her, felt it checking her over, merging briefly with her magic to do so. He nodded. “Just about back to normal. I imagine it will feel as if you have a hangover for a while, but it will pass soon enough. Your magic is just adjusting to being free again. At least they never got the cuffs on you.” 

Cassia nodded, glad it was not worse. After breakfast, which was smaller than normal for her, they all received a shock when there was a rapping at the window. All of them, piled into the one lodge in the living room for breakfast, looked round to see a raven at the window. “Huginn,” Thor said, standing, and letting the raven in. The bird flew to perch on his shoulder. “What message from father, Huginn?” 

“Not the king. The Queen wonders when you will bring your soul mates to meet her. She is growing impatient.” 

“Ah,” Thor said, shoulders slumping. Frigga must be annoyed, if she had sent one of Odin’s ravens with a message. There was going to have to be a trip to Asgard soon, to put off her temper.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please review!


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing!

They returned to the Tower before heading to Asgard, simply because having a pre-located Bifrost site made it easier to navigate. Cassia felt as if she was flying without a broom for a few seconds, before her feet hit solid ground and she stumbled into Bruce, who helped steady her.

“Thanks Bruce,” She said.

“No problem, Cassia. You ok?” He asked, looking at her worriedly. Cassia had not been exactly the same since she had been hit with the curse. The bond had seen her open up a lot to the group, but they were seeing her withdraw a little bit more all the time thanks to the attack.

“Yeah, fine,” she said, nodding. When they left the dome, she gasped and felt shock run through her. It was the most beautiful sight she had ever seen. The crystalline bridge ran over the shining expanse of water, towards a towering city which was reflecting the light. Nature was clear in many areas of the city, adding a sense of life to the city, that was not quite present in others. It was cleaner, fresher, and almost wilder to her senses. And far, far older.

“I hope you are open to learning how to ride,” Thor said to them all, grinning.

Hermione smiled. “I already know how, so don’t worry about me.”

Tony on the other hand grimaced. “Give me a car over a living thing as a mode of transport any day. Horses have their own minds and could throw you off at any moment,” he said, eyeing the group of creatures carefully.

It took a little while for all of them to even get seated. Especially since most of them creased themselves with laughter when Bucky put a little bit too much strength into pulling himself up into the saddle and then carried on, straight over, landing on his back heavily. Eventually though, they set off at a walk, everyone who had never ridden before getting used to the new experience. At least, mostly. Tony did not seem to adapt well to riding on horseback, constantly losing control of the horse, meaning someone had to keep catching the reins, to stop the horse running off with him.

“It can sense fear,” Sif said, smirking.

“I’m not afraid!” Tony responded, affronted.

Once they got to the palace, they were led to their rooms. They got an entire wing to themselves. “Why so much space?” Natasha asked. There were still many empty rooms around.

“This wing has been ours for centuries,” Thor told her. “Only the most important guests have ever been given rooms here, and only then if they needed extra protection. The wing is ours to do with as we wish for the most part. Now you are all here, it only makes sense that you stay in these rooms as well. The palace is large, and much of it is empty. Three wings are taken up by servants alone, just to maintain it all.”

“The king and queen have their own wing also,” Sif told her. “Guests for the most part are given rooms in a designated two wings. Three if there are many.”

“Still doesn’t explain why so many empty rooms still, even when we each have one ourselves,” Clint said.

“Mother always has been hoping for many grandchildren,” Loki told him, causing Jane to start coughing madly as her drink went down the wrong way.

Thor pulled her into him and began rubbing her back, hoping to help her breathe normally again. “There is no need to panic, Jane. Mother has waited for centuries already. Another decade or two would be nothing.”

Cassia felt her own rapid heart rate calm down. The thought of being pushed into having children did not appeal to her. She was nowhere near ready for that. She could not protect a child. She could not even protect herself.

It was later that evening and Cassia had secluded herself in her room. She had turned the lock on the door and then curled up on the bed. The attack kept going through her mind. She kept thinking how blind she had been. How worried she must have made the others. She should have been better than that!

Cassia felt the bed dip and looked round in surprise. Bucky was there, watching her. “How did you get in? I locked the door!”

“But not the patio door. I went onto Hermione’s balcony and jumped across. Came in through that door then. Really simple.”

“I want to be alone,” Cassia said, turning onto her side so she was facing away from him.

“Can’t do that kitten,” he told her, laying down beside her and spooning her. “You’re hurting. One of us was always going to come in. I just got here first.”

“Well let me hurt alone, it’s what I’m good at.”

“No Kitten, it’s not. Now, tell me what’s wrong.”

“I don’t want to.”

“And I don’t want to start tickling, but I will. You know I’m more stubborn than you. I can and will tickle you until you tell me the problem.”

Cassia sighed. She knew he wasn’t lying. She turned round so she was facing him, but did not look up to look him in the face. “I’ve been fighting for my life basically all my life, but the other day that wizard took me down like I had no experience whatsoever. And I’ve been training so hard as well. You’ve all been teaching me so much, but I’m still nothing but a liability to you all!”

He grabbed hold of her wrists and pulled them up so she could see the names. He gave her a moment to look at them before speaking. “Cassia, look at me,” he said, brooking no argument. Slowly, she looked up and met his eyes, looking away from the names. “You are _not_ a liability. Not by a long shot. You’ve been coming on in leaps and bounds, but even the best of us get taken by surprise,” he said, voice gravelly. Bucky’s hands tightened around her wrists, fingers pressing into the names. “These names, this bond, means you are ours. It means we will protect you. We protect each other, no matter what. There’s been times where Steve’s gone down and I’ve been the only thing keeping him alive- and he’s Captain fucking America! You may have been fighting for your life, but all of that you got through on luck, and you know it. And, despite the training, you and Hermione are still novices. You make us proud each and every training session we have, just with the sheer determination you possess. But you’re young, and inexperienced when it comes to more skilled battle tactics. You’ve only ever had the chance to go into a fight with your eyes closed and knowing very little of the lay of the land, so to speak. And done damn well with it each time too! So just trust us, Kitten. Trust us to protect you and train you to protect yourself. Please.” His voice softened at the end as he held her gaze with his.

Cassia felt the tears well up, and a sob escaped her. Bucky released her wrists and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his chest, and feeling her hands grabbing his shirt as she buried her face in the crook of his neck as she cried out the tension that had been building up inside her since the attack. He knew she needed it, so he just held her as she cried, running his normal hand through her hair. “It’s alright Kitten, its ok. We’ll protect you. No one’s going to take you from us. Not slavers, not Voldemort, not Dumbledore, no one. I promise.” Cassia fell asleep cuddled unto him, and after a while, he let himself fall asleep as well.

 

* * *

 

Cassia began to open back up after that, going back to her normal self. No one commented, knowing she wanted to put it behind her, and that Bucky had helped her get passed her doubts. If they re-emerged, one or more of them would help her get over it again. Whatever it took. They first met Thor’s and Loki’s parents in private, in their own quarters. Cassia took quicker to Frigga than to Odin, she was more open, warmer. But Cassia guessed that as she was the Goddess of Motherhood that was part of the job description. And Odin was the King of a race of Warrior Gods. He had to be intimidating. At least neither she, nor any of the others got any hostile feelings from him. She guessed that them actually being his sons soul mates and already with the bond active helped with that. Probably the fact that most of them were fighters was another factor in their favour. They had all, in one way or another, proven their strength over the years. She had the distinct feeling that Odin knew that. How she did not contemplate. She had not branched that far into magic with Loki yet.

Two evenings after that, there was a feast, which they all had to attend. “This dress is severely restrictive,” Cassia said as Sif entered, seemingly comfortable in her own gown.

“You will become used to gowns like this, Cassia. Over time. I was raised wearing them. The armour came later,” she smiled at the young Neko, taking hold of her hands. “The dress suits you. The seamstress made it well.” The dress was a dark silver with long, light chiffon sleeves and a wide, heavy, silver belt which added to the restrictiveness of the corset. Cassia’s hair had silver beads running through it.

“I don’t think I could ever become used to a dress that cuts off this much lung movement,” Cassia told her.

Sif laughed. “It will get easier through the night. Come, we will sit in the main lounge and wait for the others.”

“I still don’t see why this feast is necessary,” she said as they walked out.

“It is to present us all, fully bonded partners now, to the court. They are eager to meet you all. Many of them found it strange that we had so many Midgardian soul mates,” Sif told her, linking their arms. Cassia noticed she had a dagger up her sleeve. It seemed Sif was never off guard. “Oh, never,” Sif told her, smiling widely.

“Did I broadcast that?” Cassia asked, blushing.

“Yes, you did,” Sif grinned.

“Sorry.”

“Do not worry, Cassia. It is good you noticed. The men can easily bring weapons to the feast, I do not see why I cannot,” Sif told her. Cassia smiled.

The feast was massive and loud. Very Loud. Cassia’s ears twitched as she tried to adjust to the continuous noise. There were a mass of people who appeared eager to celebrate that their prince’s had found and bonded with their soul mates. It reminded Cassia that, here at least, they were considered married. It startled her to remember that. Back home, and it had become so easy to think of Stark Tower as home, it was easy to forget everything the bond meant. To her, it had become something that provided assurances that she was surrounded by people who cared for her now. That she had found her family, her home. Here, every implication was impossible to forget. People bowed and called them by royal titles here. Several ladies of the court even enquired as to when children might start coming along when they managed to rope them into conversation. The subject made Cassia rather uncomfortable. She was no where near ready to have a child! She was seventeen! She understood they were eager to see the kingdoms line of succession secure, but this was a bit much. It did not help that, for some reason, her senses were heightened tonight for a reason she could not explain. That was how she found herself on a balcony overlooking the city. “Are you alright, dear?”

Cassia looked round to see Frigga in the doorway, looking worried.

“I am fine, Queen Frigga, thank you for asking. It is just, very loud inside. My senses have decided to become very sensitive tonight for some reason.”

“I heard you ate an unusual amount tonight,” Frigga said. “Apart from eating more than usual and your senses heightening, have you had any other unusual symptoms? Fainting? Nausea?”

It dawned on Cassia what Frigga might be trying to diagnose. “Oh, no! None of that! And honestly, nothing’s happened for anything like that yet.”

Frigga nodded. “If you still do not feel right in the morning, perhaps you should see Lady Eir. Other than that, are you well?”

Cassia smiled. “Just a bit overwhelmed with everything I guess. I keep getting asked when I’m going to get pregnant. So do Hermione, Jane, Pepper, Natasha and Sif. I think Sif and Natasha are the most annoyed by it though.”

“Some people are becoming rather over zealous. I will try and dissuade them for you all. I understand you are not ready for that step yet. A few years is nothing to us.”

“Thank you, Queen Frigga,” Cassia said.

“There is no need to stand to formality with me, Cassia. You are my daughter now. A part of my family.”

Cassia smiled and nodded. Frigga had welcomed them all with open arms. Cassia guessed she wanted more children and happily adopted her sons soul mates as those children. The welcome was wonderful for Cassia, and she was happy to accept it. She had heard a lot about the maternal woman from Thor, Loki and Sif. And all of it good.

“May I steal Cassia away from you, mother?” Thor asked as he approached.

“Of course my son. Enjoy the rest of the night.”

Cassia smiled at the Queen as she took hold of Thor’s hand. He pulled her out to dance and she leant into him, feeling safe and calm for the first time since entering the noisy feasting hall.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please review!


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Bucky slammed the door behind him and held it closed, making sure she was well and truly locked inside. What the hell had gotten into her this morning? And why the fuck had she suddenly started wearing some purfume that smelled so god damned enticing and made him want to take her up on her advances? He knew she was nowhere near ready for this step. She had not been ready last night, and there was no way she had become ready over night!

“What’s going on, Bucky?”

He looked round to see Hermione. The others were also emerging from their rooms. He barely noticed the fact that Tony, Pepper and Bruce came out of the same one. Several people sleeping together had quickly become the new norm. They had probably all felt the odd feelings from him and Cassia over the bond.

“I think something’s happened to Cassia. She’s not right at the moment,” Bucky explained. All he had wanted to do was check she was alright after last night. She had admitted to feeling off, so he wanted to make sure she was ok.

“What do you mean by ‘not right’?” Bruce asked.

“She tried to jump me.”

“Uh oh,” Hermione said, suddenly looking worried.

“Yeah, uh oh,” Bucky nodded.

“No, you don’t understand, I think she’s in heat. I completely forgot about that. There was only a short piece about it in the journal article I read on Neko’s. Like cats, they have heat cycles. This is Cassia’s first since she came into her inheritance. They normally have four a year, one for each season. During the next few days, her instincts will be telling her she has to mate, and with a strong mate. They evolved, due to being hunted, the ability to sense a strong mate, to ensure their child is strong, and has the best chance of survival and freedom. And seeing as we’re her soul mates, she will have a strong reaction to each of us.”

“Well, that would explain a lot,” Bucky said.

The door jerked, but he managed to keep it closed.

Hermione groaned. “Did she seem to be giving off a strange scent?”

“A really nice one? Yeah.”

“That will be the pheromones. They’re meant to draw in a mate,” Hermione said. “She is definitely in heat.”

“So what do we do?” Pepper asked.

“I have no idea. There wasn’t really an explanation on that part.”

“Why not?” Steve asked, running a hand through his hair.

“Because the article was written by a wizard, who was of the belief that Neko’s make good slaves and that any wizard who owned one would naturally indulge themselves with their pet,” Hermione said, tone disgusted.

“Ok, we need another solution. I don’t think anyone wants to take advantage of Cassia. So, what we need is to find another Neko, who can explain how to help Cassia,” Tony said.

“SHIELD may have a few on record by now,” Natasha said. “Some of us could go back to earth, ask Fury, and then talk to them. I’m sure they would be more than willing to help.”

“That is a good plan,” Thor agreed. “If it will help Cassia, it is definitely worth trying.”

“So what do we do until then?” Jane asked. “We can’t keep Cassia locked up.”

“We will all have to stick together and watch her. If necessary, we may have to dump cold water on her from time to time,” Loki said.

“I’ll get ready and head down straight away,” Natasha said. “I have a high enough clearance to see the case files. They’ll all be highly classified. Only top agents will have access to them, and names, except for those assigned to protection detail.”

“I will come with you,” Thor said. “It will be easier for you to get back that way.”

Natasha nodded, and they both went into their rooms to get ready. Loki conjured a bucket filled with water and walked up to Bucky. “Since this is her first experience of a heat cycle, perhaps we should play it safe when you open the door. Shock her out of it.”

Bucky nodded. “Good idea. Right. I’ll open the door. When she comes out, douse her. Word of warning- she’s damned fast.” He opened the door, and as Cassia all but flew out, she got hit by freezing cold water. She froze with shock, limbs freezing up, and it felt like a haze had lifted from her mind, and whatever had been burning inside her, making her pounce on Bucky, cooled. Shivering, she looked round. Loki was holding a bucket, and the others were watching her wearily.

Cassia looked at Bucky. “Sorry Buck. I didn’t mean to. I don’t know what came over me!”

“It’s alright kitten, it just turns out you’ve gone into heat,” Bucky said.  

Cassia groaned, hand coming up to rub her eyes. “Why didn’t I remember that?”

“Well, we did learn about it in first year, and a lot has happened since- when we didn’t know you were a Neko as well,” Hermione answered her.

 

* * *

 

When Thor and Natasha arrived in the tower, they found Darcy Lewis waiting for them. She was practically bouncing. “There you are! I came back first chance I could after the broadcast, only to find no one here!”

“Darcy what’s up?” Natasha asked.

“Cassia Potter, one of your soul mates, is a Neko, yeah? Who’s helping her adjust to the discovery?”

“We are trying to help her the best we can,” Thor said. “But we were hoping SHIELD would have someone who could properly help her.”

Darcy grinned and raised her hand. She seemed to shimmer before they saw her real features for the first time. Darcy was a Neko with brown furred ears and tail. “I never told any of you about this, because I didn’t know how. I was in heat when the news story broke, and then had to cover my tracks from wizards before coming here. I can help her with problems like heat. Keep her from going overboard and that.”

“I was not expecting you to be a Neko,” Thor said, eyes widened. “But if you could help Cassia, we would be grateful.

“Great, where is she?”

“Still on Asgard,” Natasha answered. “The others are watching her. With buckets of ice water, just to be sure.”  

Before Darcy could reply, the elevator doors opened and Dan and Emma stepped into the penthouse. “Where are the others?” Emma asked.

“Is everything alright?” Dan asked.

“There’s a bit of a problem. Cassia’s gone into heat. Darcy here is going to help her through it,” Natasha answered. “Everyone else is keeping an eye on her right now.”

“We should be getting back. Simply having ice water chucked on her cannot be good for Cassia’s health.”

Natasha nodded to Thor who looked like he was becoming agitated. The three Asgardians of the group always did when there was some sort of trouble for the others they could not protect them from. She thought it was due to them being part of a warrior race.

“How long will you be gone?” Emma asked.

“At least until Cassia is no longer in heat. She is vulnerable right now. Her judgement could become clouded should the wizards attack. From that threat, she is currently safe. And the citadel has the best defences in all the nine realms. But, once this is finished, we will return.”

“Take care of her,” Emma warned.

Thor grinned. “Of course, Emma.”

 

* * *

 

Cassia was curled up, reading a book. It was getting harder and harder to concentrate, however well Dahl wrote. She was currently in dry clothes, but that could change soon. She was becoming more aware of the others in the room with her, though her senses were more focused on her soul mates than the Warriors Three.

The door opened and Thor and Natasha entered with someone she had only seen in the others memories. “Darcy?” Jane asked, shocked at the new features.

“Hey Jane, how’s things?”

“Why didn’t you say you were a Neko?”

“It wasn’t the easiest subject for me to broach. But I’m here to help Cassia. I’ve spent years learning to control my instincts.”

“You can?” Cassia’s ears perked. She didn’t like feeling out of control.

“Course I can. It’s easy enough. Best get started now though. And in a private room. No distractions.”

“My room then. Come on.”

Cassia shot up and led Darcy back out of the lounge area and to her rooms. Once inside, Darcy had them both sitting on the floor, in front of the unlit fireplace. “Right, the first thing I want you to do is focus on that feeling. That need you have to mate. Concentrate on it.”

Cassia hesitated for a moment, before doing as she was told. The feeling quickly grew. Her breathing and heart rate increased. Darcy grabbed her hands. “Now use it. Gather it up, like your magic and use it as a spell. Dispel it harmlessly into the air by warming the air up, or lifting something. Use the energy up, and the urge will dissipate.”

Cassia followed her instructions and levitated several ornaments around their heads, until the urge disappeared and then put them back into their places. She opened her eyes and grinned at Darcy. “Done. I feel better. No need to jump anyone.”

“Good. Told you it was simple enough. I’ll keep an eye on you this time and next, to make sure, but after that, you’ll manage just fine.”

Cassia hugged her. “Thanks.”

“My pleasure. Though I would seriously suggest considering giving into it. Your soul mates are all hotties.”

Cassia snorted. She was going to get on with Darcy.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please Review!


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing!

It was two weeks before they returned to New York. They spent the time exploring the city, learning first hand about the warrior culture. Hermione, Cassia, Jane, Bruce and Tony were frequent visitors to the vast palace library, with Loki to help them find what they wanted to read and learn. All of them, and even Darcy joined them, enjoyed exploring the markets that were everywhere in the city, selling a variety of wares that were unusual to all but three. Thor, Sif and Loki were more than happy to answer any and all their questions. Cassia particularly enjoyed the variety of foods available for sale. The others were all happy enough to let her buy and try anything she fancied. Which seemed to be everything.

Frigga had been glad to hear the cause of Cassia feeling unwell was simply her going into heat. However she had increased her mothering of the youngest of her sons soul mates as a result. Cassia really couldn’t lie- after growing up with the Dursley family, she liked the experience. Something she had felt from the Grangers was shown to her immediately here too, helping her feel at home in the new world. Safe.

Having been informed of the situation, Odin put together a guard force to be sent down to help combat the wizards. Half would be housed at the tower, the other on the Helicarrier. Cassia and Hermione had tracking spells placed on them. They were the two the wizards were after, and if they got lucky the group wanted multiple ways of tracking them. One was bound to get past the wizards notice. Before they all left, Frigga insisted on a family dinner, where Odin told them that Hermione, Jane, Bruce and Pepper were welcome to bring their immediate family to Asgard the next time they returned if they so wished.

While Cassia would miss Asgard, it felt nice to return to normality. The experience had been slightly overwhelming and she would need time, and a few visits, to get used to it. And she knew she wasn’t the only one.

Two nights after they returned, they were all woken by a pulse of warning magic. Wizards had entered the tower through the front door and bewitched security, and were walking up the many flights of stairs, obviously not trusting the lips. Unfortunately for them, this gave the tower residents time to prepare. The Grangers, Hermione, Pepper, Cassia, Jane and Darcy headed up to the nest, while the others took up positions, various weapons within reach, and the Asgardian warriors ready to cut off the wizards escape.

Bucky was in the kitchen area, which faced the stairwell the wizards would come through. He was dressed in a t-shirt and jogging bottoms, hair tied haphazardly, arm on display. It would give the wizards the sense he had been caught off guard, making a late night snack. Hopefully it would increase their confidence to the point it was a liability. While the wizards were climbing the stairs, the Avengers were planning. Each minute gave them further advantage. The wizards had hoped to surprise them, but now the tables were turned.

When the wizards arrived, they froze. The sight of the winter soldier, looking almost _normal_ , sandwich halfway to his mouth, was enough to do that. Bucky dropped the sandwich onto the counter and grabbed the gun strapped under the counter. Three of the ten wizards went down to bullets before the group moved into action, firing spells. Bucky easily dodged them as the others moved into actions. As they came into view, and the warriors cut off the stairs, two panicked and attempted to apparate. The wards reacted and they were hit to the ground violently, rendering them unconscious. The rest were easily subdued, their magic suppressed for transport to a SHIELD facility. The rest of the night was spent in the nest, everyone else still on edge, but relieved at knowing their defences worked.

 

* * *

 

Hermione was suspicious. Everyone was hiding something from her. Cassia had dragged Bucky out earlier, and neither would tell her why. The others were planning something and she had no idea what.

Cassia on the other hand, was excited. She and Bucky had been out for hours searching for a birthday gift for Hermione that would be from all of them, the others chipping in over the bond. They had decided what type of gift it would be, but it would be Cassia and do Bucky searching the city for it. The others would be running interference for them. They had all gotten her individual gifts, but wanted something from all of them.

Hours were spent searching shops until Cassia finally saw something in a music shop. “She would love this one,” she said to Bucky, her hand running over the lid of the mahogany grand piano. Hermione had always loved playing the piano, she knew. But she did not get the chance to play in Hogwarts and hadn’t been able to play at all since they left Britain. This had led to her soul mates deciding to buy her a piano. The bench was of the same wood as the piano and the legs were carved to make it look as if vines wrapped around them. The music stand had the same design, as did the sides of the piano. Bucky pulled up the lid and played a few short notes, before nodding. He could play a few simple pieces, and knew enough to hear if an instrument needed tuning.

“I completely agree kitten. With a bit of tuning, this would be perfect. I’ll go buy it,” he headed over to the woman who owned the shop and arranged for it to be delivered and tuned, the night before Hermione’s birthday.

 

* * *

 

Hermione currently had her head on Jane’s lap, and was laying across the sofa, both of them watching Mrs. Brown’s Boys on the television. She was the most relaxed and unconcerned that she had been all day, enjoying the comedy gold and the fingers of her soul mate running through her hair. It was bliss. Whatever they were all planning could wait for now.

“What exactly is it you’re both watching?” Bruce asked, coming into the lounge.

“It’s a show about an Irish family, focusing on the rather domineering matriarch, Agnes Brown, played by the creator and writer, Brendon O’Carrol.” Jane explained. “It is hilarious.”

Bruce joined them on the sofa to watch, and soon the others drifted in. When Cassia and Bucky returned, they joined their mates too.

After she joined Clint on the shooting range downstairs. Tony was still working on making ear plugs for Cassia to dampen the sounds of gunfire to her more sensitive hearing. Hermione watched Clint for a few rounds before he began helping her learn how to safely handle firearms. “As you know, guns aren’t my preferred weapon, but I’m still skilled in using them. If I see you mishandling a gun, I will make sure you don’t get hold of another one.”

“I promise, I don’t intend to use one off the range without supervision unless I have no other option. And learning wandless magic from Loki means that chance has decreased a lot.”

Clint nodded. “Well, when I’ve decided you’re ready, you can come down here and shoot unsupervised. The bond at least ensures we will know if something goes wrong.”

Hermione smiled and turned her concentration to the hand gun he held out for her. They spent an hour on the range. Having learnt how to cast spells accurately, it did not take her long to ensure her aim was good. When they were done, and heading back upstairs, Hermione decided to try her luck. “So, what were Cassia and Bucky out for so long for?”

Clint seemed to freeze for a moment and she heard the word ‘birthday’ over the bond. Then he reached a snap decision and reached down and kissed her. Hermione responded by grabbing him and pulling him closer. They were still kissing as the elevator doors opened.

“Hey, Barton, don’t hog her!”

They both broke apart and looked round to see Tony grinning at them, lounged out on a chair. “Haha,” Clint said dryly. “It’s not my fault you were in the wrong place at the wrong time, Tony.”

Hermione just rolled her eyes, leaning into Clint and stuck her tongue out at Tony, who returned the gesture. She had figured something out. They had something planned for her Birthday.

* * *

 

Cassia woke up early on Hermione’s birthday, brimming with excitement. Thor, Steve, Bucky and Loki had moved the piano in the middle of the night, from where it had been delivered to the floor below, to the floor the girls and the Grangers were staying on. She sensed the others waking up and coming down and carefully extracted herself from Hermione’s arms. She then slipped out of the bedroom and began working on breakfast. Steve and Jane joined her in the task. Dan and Emma soon joined them all and admired the piano. The other gifts, smaller and wrapped, were placed on top. When breakfast was just about ready, Cassia went to wake Hermione up.

Sitting on the bed, she kissed her. When Hermione opened her bleary eyes, she smiled. “Morning.”

“Good morning, sleepy head. Happy birthday.”

“Does this mean I get to find out what you have all been hiding from me?”

“If you get up out of bed and come with me, sure,” Cassia smiled, pulling Hermione up.

“Well, alright then.” Hermione smiled as Cassia led her out of the room. When they reached the living room she stopped and gasped. The piano was beautiful and she immediately fell in love with it. “Oh wow,” she said, to a chorus of ‘happy birthdays’. She immediately understood that the piano was from all her soul mates. Her parents came and hugged her, handing over a card. Inside were vouchers for driving lessons and a set of keys, and a picture of a blue car as her main present from them. An Audi. Smiling, she hugged them. “Thank you,” she said. She had wanted to lean to drive, but life had been incredibly hectic. This would be both the incentive and chance to go through with it.

They had breakfast before opening anymore presents, which included sheet music from Asgard and Midgard, several books, both fiction and non-fiction, an I-pod fully loaded with music and a record player with several vinyls. Later, they all ate out, before going to see an opera. Surrounded by her parents and soul mates, her family, easily made it Hermione’s best birthday yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please Review!


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing!

“You want Cassia to do what?” Steve demanded, standing from his seat, glaring at Fury. He was not the only one, all the Avengers were.

“We need to locate a few slavers bases. For that we need intel. If we can get into one, we can have access to those who run it, and what they know of others. For that, we need someone who we can track to be on the inside. With the bond between you, this tracking spell I have heard of, and a SHIELD tracking implant, should Cassia be ‘captured’ and taken to one of their bases, it would give us access to it. It would be simple to break her out- and any other captives they have as well as getting the information we need. It’s a risk, but a minimal one.”

“We will not put Cassia in danger. We will not allow her to fall into the hands of the wizards, even for a moment!” Sif all but yelled, hands balling into fists at Fury’s audacity to suggest the idea.

“Our sources so far have not provided any insight into the slavers’ operations. The only part we have access to are the markets selling creatures. By that point the ones on sale have already been harmed a great deal, and are in need of a lot of help- physically and psychologically.”

“And you want us to risk Cassia being put through even a fraction of that?” Bruce asked. Fury noted the green glint in his eyes. This could get violent very quickly, but then they all stilled- eyes becoming slightly unfocused, before they began to look at each other, none of them looking happy. It seemed as if they were having a conversation with each other and the absent Cassia and Hermione.

Bucky slumped, shaking his head. “She wants to do it. Agreed to the extra tracker and everything.”

Fury nodded. “Agent Barton, go and pick her up, she needs to be debriefed and have the tracker implanted. It was designed by two of our best to be resistant to magic.”

“And if they take it off her?” Thor demanded. “She will lose one way for us to track her.”

“That is why it will be implanted beneath her skin. It will not be noticed, and it can be easily removed afterwards.”

“I’ll do the procedure. Make sure,” Bruce said. They would all feel better if they knew everything had been done properly. They would not trust anyone else to ensure her safety- not in this.

“Alright then. It’s settled. I have a few muggleborn who have come forward to help. They’re going to be the ‘informants.’ They will see to it that a slaver hears of a neko being in Hell’s Kitchen, in an abandoned building. Part of the plan is to disguise Cassia, so they do not realise which Neko it is they have. The last thing we want at the moment is for them to take her somewhere separate, where our efforts will be rescued,” he looked at Loki. “Can you place a glamour on her that they won’t notice and won’t be able to remove?”

Loki nodded. “Of course. That will be easy.”

“Then let’s get started,” Fury said.

Clint stood and left the room, scowling. Within an hour, he was back on the Hellicarrier, Cassia, Hermione, Darcy, Dan and Emma with him. Cassia looked determined, the rest were thoroughly unhappy. Hermione was holding Cassia’s hand tightly, glaring at Fury. If he had not brought the idea up, no one else would have considered it- and Cassia would not have felt obligated to go through with it. She was adamant that she wanted to do all she could to help. Others like her were being enslaved, and she was determined to be in the thick of things.

“To insert the tracker, I’m going to use a device that will act like a needle, so it will be an injection,” Bruce explained to her in one of the labs. In fact, it was the same one he and Tony had used to track the Tesseract when Amora had threatened the world with invasion. “And it will go into your hip, just under the waistline of your trousers- no one will notice it there.”

Cassia smiled reassuringly. “Sounds like a plan,” she said. “But you don’t need to be so worried. This will work.”

“You aren’t even a fully trained SHIELD Agent. Let Natasha or Clint go under a glamour charm, or one of the others, hell even me. You don’t need to put yourself at risk like this,” Bruce said, grabbing her hands.

Cassia freed one of hers and cupped his cheek, before leaning in to kiss him. “Yes I do, Bruce. I can’t let others protect me all my life. I know enough to handle myself, and I know you’ll all be right behind me. Besides, it’s me and others like me that they are looking for. Let me do something more to help than just being a figure to be seen on TV.”

He pulled her into him, and she could sense the Hulk, lurking just beneath the surface, ready to come out the moment he was needed to help her. “Alright,” Bruce said, “but the Other Guy is going to be holding nothing back.”

“I wouldn’t expect anything less. Now, how about we get this tracker implant over with huh?”

 

* * *

 

Four hours later, Cassia had been debriefed, told the entire plan several times over by her soulmates and was in costume, glamour applied. She kept glancing in the mirror, unable to believe it was herself. She now had mousy brown hair in a short, wild look, with an angular face and brown eyes. She was dressed in a ratty black hoody, covered by a brown canvass jacket. Her jeans were dirty and frayed, and her trainers brought back memories in the fact that they looked ready to fall apart, but they were stronger than they looked. She would need to run later, after all. All in all, she appeared to have been living on the streets for weeks, and nothing like herself, especially not the Cassia that had been featured in the news, the world over- both mundane and magical.

Loki handed her a small knife to hide in her clothes. “It would look suspicious if they found you unarmed. This, when they disarm you, will make them overconfident. Put them at ease as well. You will be the image of someone hunted, and trying to survive in rough conditions.”

She slipped the knife into her jacket’s inner pocket and hugged him. “It’s going to be fine, you know.”

“It does not seem it. It is not too late.”

“I know. But I won’t change my mind.”

Before they got on the Quinjet, Hermione caught her in a tight hug. “Be careful. If you get hurt, I’ll kill you.”

Cassia laughed. “I’ll be sure to come back in one piece. Mostly anyway.”

Hermione huffed. “We are having a long talk about your saving people thing when you get home.”

“Of course. See you then,” Cassia said, kissing her.

Hermione was the only one of their group not on the Quinjet. Another two jets were already in the air, and waiting commands, along with another team Fury had drafted in, one he claimed was made of his best Agents. Both backup jets had Asgardian Warriors on them, including the Warrior’s Three. Cassia sat in-between Steve and Bucky through the flight, letting them go over the plan with her again, reassuring both them and herself that she knew it well enough to pull it off. The part she was dreading was the curse to block her magic, and the cuffs. She knew she would be unconscious for a time, and she would be vulnerable, and unable to sense her soulmates. Not something she was going to relish. Hopefully, they would sense enough to be able to find her. They all knew that was the only thing that was still to be determined. It was something they would not be able know until the wizards rendered her unconscious.

When they arrived at their destination, Natasha led Cassia to a corner of the large deserted building. The area was small on account of the large stacks of plank bases stacked on top of one of the other, creating an almost claustrophobic space. On the floor was a battered backpack with some food, right next to it were some blankets and a pillow, all of them dusty and stained.

“SHIELD’s really gone the full mile to make it look like I’ve been roughing it for at least a few months, huh?”

“Yes, now, come here, I want to make sure your face is right,” Natasha said.

Cassia stood patiently as Natasha used some of the dust around them, almost like makeup, on Cassia’s face and hands. After a few minutes, she nodded. Cassia looked like she remembered she had when she’d needed to hide out in places like this for a few days before. “So, how long will I have to wait, do I think?”

“We don’t think long. But when they do turn up, we’ll be right behind you.”

“You know they’ll be apparating right? Could be heading to another state entirely.”

Natasha’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t make me pull you from this mission, Cassia,” she warned.

Cassia grinned sheepishly. “Sorry. You should probably go. I’ll wait here.”

Natasha kissed her forehead briefly, before turning and leaving. Cassia sat down in the makeshift nest and leant against the solid wall, watching through the gap of the pallets. This would be the boring part.

* * *

 

The figure in black was stood in the shadows, silent as he seemed to stare down at the street. His head suddenly snapped to the side, and he began to run. The warehouse was easily accessible through back alleys and the cracks which sounded almost like gunshots was something that he wanted to find out about. Especially seeing as it sounded like several people had appeared from nowhere in there. Of course, he had listened to the news, and knew all about the reveal of magic, and the slave trade in the hidden world. If some wizards were looking to hurt someone in _his_ neighbourhood, they were in for a shock.

A cry of fear sounded out, female in origin, and he made out her figure- small and cowering, holding a knife in defence against a group of others, all of whom were holding long thin sticks- wands. Matt lunged in through a derelict door, and rammed into one of the wizards, knocking him down to the floor, a well-placed punch rendering him unconscious. He felt the spells flying at him and dodged easily. However, six of them were herding him away from the girl, placing spells to keep him pinned down, heading towards the door again, while another four went for the girl, quickly disarming her. A spell knocked her out, and Matt tried to press forward, ignoring as a couple of spells cut into him. The four quickly made their escape with the girl however, and the others vanished with cracks soon after. They had left their fellow wizard behind though.

Matt snarled, feeling the mask rub against the upper half of his face as he stalked towards the wizard. He was about to grab the unconscious man when someone else walked in. He turned, muscles tense and ready for a fight at the approach of this unknown woman. She held up her hands, both empty.

“I’ve come to tell you that you don’t need to worry about that particular Neko,” she said, her voice calm, collected. Dangerous.

“Why not?” Matt asked.

“My name is Natasha Romanoff, and the Neko just ‘kidnapped’ was actually Cassia Potter in disguise. She volunteered to have a tracker placed on her so that we could follow some of the wizards to one of their slavers bases. Everything was planned out. Apart from your appearance. Thank you for trying, though. I’ll have some SHIELD agents come and collect the garbage, if you want to get out of here. We’ll keep quiet.”

“We?” Matt asked. She was the only one here.

“The team and me. We all know what you did. Now go, I’ll make sure he doesn’t wake up until he’s in custody. But then I have to go too.”

Matt nodded. He could barely believe that, after only two weeks going out in the night, he had run into an Avenger’s mission. And if he had been good enough, he could have ruined it. He quickly left. He was smart enough to know he did not want to annoy the woman he had just been speaking with.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a little review for me?


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Cassia came round slowly, feeling the pain running through her body and completely unable to feel her magic- something which terrified her far more than she thought it would. She looked down and saw the cuffs on her hands and ankles, and felt the collar round her neck. A short movement forward was enough to tell her that the collar was chained to the wall behind her. But none of that was what scared her the most. They had known it was likely they would sense little, or nothing of the bond, but the reality of it was unexpected. Cassia had grown so accustomed to at least sensing the others surface thoughts on the edge of her mind, of knowing exactly where they were and that they would be there if she needed them, that not feeling any of that left her feeling as if she was drowning. Her breathing rate began to increase rapidly as the terror began to set in, until she forced herself to focus on what Clint had told her.

“Your instincts will kick in- fight or flight. This being what it is, flight will likely overcome fight- you need to force it into backing down to your instinct to fight, to keep a level head and be able to keep yourself alive and as safe as possible.”

She ran over every aspect of the plan and then took in her surroundings in an attempt to see if she could figure out how long she’d been out, and when the others would turn up. The room was dark, but her eyes quickly adjusted and she made out a single door directly in front of her, less than seven feet away. Her ears shifted and she picked up on the sounds outside of her area, sounds of others begging and pleading, cries of pain and anguish- and laughter. She growled. The slavers were torturing their captives and they were enjoying it. Well, they would not get their enjoyment for much longer. From the stiffness in her muscles she reckoned she had been asleep several hours. Cassia reckoned that she would not be here much longer.

Just as the door opened and light streamed in, revealing a wizard in black robes, she was proven right. A massive explosion rocked the building she was in and she began to feel a nudging on the edge of her mind. She would need to get out of this collar before she could feel her connection to her soulmates again however.

The wizard whipped round and looked confused, before shrugging. “The others can deal with that,” he shook his head and turned to her. “We have a long way to go before we’re able to sell you successfully.” He raised his wand and hit her with a Crucio. Cassia felt the pain stabbing through her and hissed, straining to get out of the bonds.

 

* * *

 

Natasha snuck through the shadows of the building, listening to the fight over the comms. The others were engaging the slavers while she looked for Cassia. Once she had her, and they knew she was safe, they could start rounding the slavers up and releasing the other creatures here. A witch and wizard turned the corner and froze at the sight of her. Natasha smiled before she surged forward. A punch to the throat took out the witch and then she slammed the wizards head into the wall. She quickly dragged them into what had to be a supply cupboard and moved on. They wanted some left alive to interrogate after all. Though, the witch may choke to death, the wizard should only have a concussion.

She checked the tracking device and took a left. Almost there. Cassia should be just around the next corner. A cry of pain saw her increase her speed. That was unmistakably Cassia and Natasha’s eyes narrowed. She came round the corner and headed for the only open door, and the source of the cry of pain and the animalistic snarl of anger and found herself right behind the back of a wizard, wand held on the still glamoured Cassia.

Drawing her knives, Black Widow decided to teach this wizard what it meant to be interrogated by someone with Red Room training. A swipe to his legs tendons saw the wizard scream, drop his wand and fall to the floor in agony. She grabbed his hand and held it against the floor and pushed her knife down, cutting off the top of one of his fingers, drawing yet another scream from him. “Now, these wounds won’t kill you, not for quite a while, so I have a lot more I can do to you for hurting her,” she said darkly. No doubt within a few hours he would bleed out, but not yet. The wounds were not bad enough for him to have a quick death. “So, why do it? That’s all I want to know. Why enslave and torture innocents huh?”

“Please, don’t kill me!”

She sighed. “Another figure it is then. And then we’ll start with the nails.”

It only took him five minutes to crack. “Please! I only do it because I can’t work my way up anywhere else! They think I’m too violent!”

“Thank you,” the smile from the red haired assassin was anything but pleasant as she then slit the man’s throat, anger still simmering in her. If anyone else had tortured Cassia, they would be receiving the same treatment.

She moved away from the corpse and towards Cassia. It took but a few moments to unlock Cassia’s restraints and she then found herself enveloped in a hug, finally being able to feel Cassia’s mind at the edge of hers again. There was a collective sense of relief through the bond as they all felt Cassia’s presence return and Natasha found Cassia would not let her go. “Come on, let’s get out of here. The others can move on now,” Nat placed her free hand to her comms device as she helped Cassia stand. “I have Cassia, everyone else, move in, let’s clean this place out.”

They left the cell and made their way towards the point of the building Natasha had entered through. A spell came whizzing towards them and she pulled Cassia to the ground. “Stay low, I’ll deal with this one.” She charged the wizard and took him down easily. These guys were incredibly easy to take out once you got passed their wands. It was hardly a challenge. Looking back around, Natasha received a shock. Cassia was now a small black, long furred cat, lying on the floor. _‘Well, you did tell me to stay low. I think my magic just reacted.’_ Amusement washed through Natasha as she walked over and picked Cassia up. Receiving a mew, she smiled. “Well, you will be much easier to protect, and harder to hit at this size,” she put Cassia back down. “Stick close to me. If you find you can’t, then get to one of the others. It’s probably best for you to stay in this form though.”

 _‘Alright then, I will,’_ Cassia found it extremely odd, walking along on all fours like this, but quickly adapted. She also found it easy to keep up with Natasha. As they headed outside though, that changed. It was carnage, and fights were taking place everywhere. It did not take long for them to get separated. Following the bond however, she soon found Thor and leapt onto his back and climbed onto his shoulder. He grinned “Are you well, Cassia?”

_‘Better than earlier. Can we get out of here?”_

“Of course!” Grabbing her with one hand, he swung Mjolnir with the other and then they were flying. He landed by the Quinjet and placed her down on a seat. “Wait here, Cassia. I must go and help the others.”

 _‘I know. I’ll keep out of sight. See you later.’_ While she wanted to help and fight, she knew she would be better off keeping out of their way. Knowing she was safe meant that her soulmates would be able to fight unhindered. Things would get done quicker that way. She had done her part and led them to the base, now it was their turn.

 

* * *

 

David Wilson was in a rage. “You assured not only your country, but the entre wizarding world that these people would pose no threat Dumbledore!” He yelled at the Chief Mugwump who was sat opposite his desk. “But I received word last night that one of our largest slavers bases had been raided by them! Successfully too! Twenty are dead, another thirty are missing! And fifty creatures have escaped, no doubt they are now under the protection of these Avengers!” The American Minister was all for taking out his anger on the wizard in front of him. “I wanted to add further security, but you assured me they would not stand a chance if they found one of our bases! Even though I saw what just one of them did in Salem, I believed you!”

“Calm yourself, Minister. We all feel for your countries loss. We failed to appreciate the strengths of this group, but now we have seen them in action. We have seen what they can do. I believe now we can form strategies to counteract them. It just may take some time.” Inside, beneath the calm façade, Dumbledore was panicking. Just who the hell were these people?

 

* * *

 

Cassia sighed in relief as doctors gave her the all clear and she got the go ahead to return to the tower. She was in desperate want of a shower and to sleep in a proper bed, or at least in the Nest, which was pretty much a giant bed. Hermione had not left her side, even when the doctors had tried to ask her to leave. And they had even less luck with Bruce, whose eyes were still tellingly green. The Hulk had caused by far the most destruction on the slavers base, and had been the reason why there had been such a high death toll. But the rest were now in cells, waiting to be questioned. Hopefully, SHIELD and their allies would be able to move forward with any new information they could gain from them.

As she stepped out of the examination room, Jane and Pepper caught her in a hug and then passed her over to an anxious Dan and Emma. She may have to wait a while for that shower. Hermione laughed at hearing that thought but decided to coax everyone into moving for the Quinjet. She guessed all the Avengers would feel the need for a shower after a fight. She was not wrong. They all disappeared off to bathrooms the moment they arrived at the tower.

“I’ll get us a takeaway for tonight then,” Pepper said, smiling. “Chinese alright?”

“Sounds good to me, Pepper,” Emma agreed. “I certainly don’t feel like going out. At least we know here, the tower has some pretty strong protections and no more trouble should happen tonight. The last two days have had more than enough excitement for me.”

They all had dinner together in the penthouse before the group of soulmates headed up for the nest and put on a film, while the elder Grangers headed downstairs to do the same and give the group some time together.

Cassia did not see much of the film, and remembered even less of it, falling to sleep quickly, curled into Bucky’s side. The others saw more but, one by one, fell asleep themselves, surrounding Cassia and Hermione. It had been a tense couple of days, and they knew anything could happen to hurt them at any time, but for now, they were safe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please review!

**Author's Note:**

> What do you think?


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